Cloud Queue Synchronization Protocol

ABSTRACT

An example implementation may involve a playback device of a media playback system sending a request for an indication of at least one media item from a remote queue of media items and an indication of a particular media item that is being played by the playback device. The implementation may also involve the playback device receiving an indication of one or more media items from the remote queue of media items. The one or more media items may include the particular media item is being played by the playback device. The implementation may further involve the playback device incorporating an indication of the one or more media items into a local queue of media items.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 62/007,906 filed Jun. 4, 2014, entitled “Cloud Queue,” which isincorporated herein in its entirety.

This application is related to the following applications filed on thesame day as the present application, the contents of each areincorporated by reference herein: Attorney Docket No. 14-0508A (MBHB14-1924), entitled “Cloud Queue Access Control,” U.S. application Ser.No. ______ filed Feb. 6, 2015; Attorney Docket No. 14-0508B (MBHB14-1923), entitled “Cloud Queue Access Control,” U.S. application Ser.No. ______ filed Feb. 6, 2014; Attorney Docket No. 14-0508C (MBHB14-1922), entitled “Cloud Queue Access Control,” U.S. application Ser.No. ______ filed Feb. 6, 2015; Attorney Docket No. 14-0508E (MBHB14-2015), entitled “Cloud Queue Playback Policy,” U.S. application Ser.No. ______ filed Feb. 6, 2015; and Attorney Docket No. 14-0508F (MBHB14-2015), entitled “Cloud Queue Playhead,” U.S. application Ser. No.______ filed Feb. 6, 2015.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosure is related to consumer goods and, more particularly, tomethods, systems, products, features, services, and other elementsdirected to media playback or some aspect thereof.

BACKGROUND

Options for accessing and listening to digital audio in an out-loudsetting were limited until in 2003, when SONOS, Inc. filed for one ofits first patent applications, entitled “Method for Synchronizing AudioPlayback between Multiple Networked Devices,” and began offering a mediaplayback system for sale in 2005. The Sonos Wireless HiFi System enablespeople to experience music from many sources via one or more networkedplayback devices. Through a software control application installed on asmartphone, tablet, or computer, one can play what he or she wants inany room that has a networked playback device. Additionally, using thecontroller, for example, different songs can be streamed to each roomwith a playback device, rooms can be grouped together for synchronousplayback, or the same song can be heard in all rooms synchronously.

Given the ever growing interest in digital media, there continues to bea need to develop consumer-accessible technologies to further enhancethe listening experience.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features, aspects, and advantages of the presently disclosed technologymay be better understood with regard to the following description,appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:

FIG. 1 shows an example media playback system configuration in whichcertain embodiments may be practiced;

FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of an example playback device;

FIG. 3 shows a functional block diagram of an example control device;

FIG. 4 shows an example controller interface;

FIG. 5 shows an computing system that may practice certain embodiments;

FIG. 6 shows an example cloud computing system in which certainembodiments may be practiced;

FIG. 7 is an example playback queue;

FIG. 8 is an example flow diagram to facilitate playback using aplayhead pointer;

FIG. 9A shows a first instance of an example environment in whichcertain embodiments may be practiced;

FIG. 9B shows a second instance of the example environment in whichcertain embodiments may be practiced;

FIG. 10 is another example flow diagram to facilitate playback using aplayhead pointer;

FIG. 11 shows an example controller interface that includes anindication of a playhead pointer;

FIG. 12 is an example flow diagram to synchronize a local queue with acloud queue;

FIG. 13A shows a first instance of a second example environment in whichcertain embodiments may be practiced;

FIG. 13B shows a second instance of the second example environment inwhich certain embodiments may be practiced;

FIG. 13C shows a third instance of the second example environment inwhich certain embodiments may be practiced;

FIG. 14 is another example flow diagram to synchronize a local queuewith a cloud queue;

FIG. 15 is an example flow diagram to identify playback policiesassociated with a queue;

FIG. 16 shows a third example environment in which certain embodimentsmay be practiced;

FIG. 17 is an example flow diagram to display a graphical indication ofa playback policy;

FIG. 18A shows an example controller interface that includes a graphicalindication of a playback policy; and

FIG. 18B shows another example controller interface that includes agraphical indication of a playback policy.

The drawings are for the purpose of illustrating example embodiments,but it is understood that the inventions are not limited to thearrangements and instrumentality shown in the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION I. Overview

Embodiments described herein may involve, inter alia, play back of acloud-based playback queue (“cloud queue”). In some embodiments, acomputing system may maintain or have access to a cloud queue of mediaitems. Such a computing system may be referred to a remote server, asone or more networks, such as a local area network and a wide areanetwork (e.g., the Internet), may separate the computing system fromentities, such as media playback systems, that might access the cloudqueue. While such entities may access the cloud queue remotely (i.e.,via one or more networks), they may play back media items of the cloudqueue locally (e.g., on respective playback devices). Various techniquesmay facilitate play back of such a cloud queue.

Some examples techniques may involve management of a “playhead.” Aplayhead may indicate, or “point to,” a particular media item of thecloud queue and be referred to as a “playhead pointer.” A playheadpointer may identify the currently playing media item of the cloudqueue, or perhaps a media item that will be currently playing ifplayback of the cloud queue is initiated. Assigning a playhead pointerto a particular position of the queue may have various advantages. Forinstance, during playback of a cloud queue by a media playback system, acomputing system may identify particular media items to indicate to themedia playback system by reference to the playhead pointer. A playheadpointer may also facilitate multiple media playback systems playing backthe cloud queue in synchrony.

Other example techniques may involve synchronization of the cloud queuewith a media playback system (or multiple media playback systems). Forinstance, a media playback system might maintain or have access to alocal queue that mirrors all or part of a cloud queue (e.g., byincluding one or more of the same media items that are indicated by thecloud queue, perhaps in the same order as the cloud queue). An exampletechnique may involve maintaining synchronization between the localqueue and the cloud queue, perhaps by re-synchronizing the local queueand the cloud queue periodically or upon the occurrence of a condition,such as a change of the currently playing media item.

In some embodiments, playback of a cloud queue may occur according toone or more playback policies. Such policies may be used to enforcerestrictions on playback or display of media items of the cloud queue.For instance, a playback policy might restrict the use of certaintransport controls, such as seeking forward or skipping backward.Alternatively, a playback policy might restrict modification of apre-determined playback order of the queue. Playback policies mayfacilitate differentiation in how different media playback systems arepermitted to playback a cloud queue. As an example, two or more mediaplayback systems may be associated with respective policies thatrestrict respective aspects of playback of playback of a cloud queue.For instance, a first media playback system may be registered with apremium subscriber account and be associated with a first policy while asecond media playback system is registered with a free account andassociated with a second policy that restricts additional aspects ofplayback compared to the first policy.

As indicated above, example techniques may involve a “playhead.” In oneaspect, a method is provided. The method may involve receiving, from amedia playback system, a request for an indication of a playhead pointerfor a particular queue of media items. The method may also involveidentifying a position of a playhead pointer within the particular queueof media items. Each position in the queue may correspond to a mediaitem. The method may further involve sending, to the media playbacksystem, an indication of the playhead pointer. The indication of theplayhead pointer may indicate the assigned position of the playheadpointer.

In another aspect, a computing system is provided. The computing systemincludes a network interface, at least one processor, a data storage,and program logic stored in the data storage and executable by the atleast one processor to perform functions. The functions may includereceiving, from a media playback system, a request for an indication ofa playhead pointer for a particular queue of media items. The functionsmay also include identifying a position of a playhead pointer within theparticular queue of media items. Each position in the queue maycorrespond to a media item. The functions may further include sending,to the media playback system, an indication of the playhead pointer. Theindication of the playhead pointer may indicate the assigned position ofthe playhead pointer.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to perform functions. The functions may include receiving, from amedia playback system, a request for an indication of a playhead pointerfor a particular queue of media items. The functions may also includeidentifying a position of a playhead pointer within the particular queueof media items. Each position in the queue may correspond to a mediaitem. The functions may further include sending, to the media playbacksystem, an indication of the playhead pointer. The indication of theplayhead pointer may indicate the assigned position of the playheadpointer.

In yet another aspect, another method is provided. The method mayinvolve receiving, by a control device of a media playback system, inputdata that associates a zone of one or more playback devices with aparticular queue of media items. The method may also involve sending, bythe control device to a computing system, a request for an indication ofa playhead pointer for the particular queue of media items. The methodmay further involve receiving, by the control device, the requestedindication of the playhead pointer. The indication of the playheadpointer may indicate an assigned position of the playhead pointer in theparticular queue of media items and assigned position may correspond toa media item at that position in the particular queue.

In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes a networkinterface, at least one processor, a data storage, and program logicstored in the data storage and executable by the at least one processorto perform functions. The functions may include receiving, by a controldevice of a media playback system, input data that associates a zone ofone or more playback devices with a particular queue of media items. Thefunctions may also include sending, by the control device to a computingsystem, a request for an indication of a playhead pointer for theparticular queue of media items. The functions may further includereceiving, by the control device, the requested indication of theplayhead pointer. The indication of the playhead pointer may indicate anassigned position of the playhead pointer in the particular queue ofmedia items and assigned position may correspond to a media item at thatposition in the particular queue.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to perform functions. The functions may include receiving, by acontrol device of a media playback system, input data that associates azone of one or more playback devices with a particular queue of mediaitems. The functions may also include sending, by the control device toa computing system, a request for an indication of a playhead pointerfor the particular queue of media items. The functions may furtherinclude receiving, by the control device, the requested indication ofthe playhead pointer. The indication of the playhead pointer mayindicate an assigned position of the playhead pointer in the particularqueue of media items and assigned position may correspond to a mediaitem at that position in the particular queue.

Also as indicated above, example techniques may involve synchronizationof the cloud queue. In one aspect, a method is provided. The method mayinvolve sending, to a remote server, (i) a request for an indication ofat least one media item from a remote queue of media items, and (ii) anindication of a particular media item that is being played by theplayback device. The method may also involve receiving an indication ofone or more media items from the remote queue of media items. The one ormore media items may include the particular media item is being playedby the playback device. The method may further involve incorporating anindication of the one or more media items into a local queue of mediaitems.

In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes a networkinterface, at least one processor, a data storage, and program logicstored in the data storage and executable by the at least one processorto perform functions. The functions may include sending, to a remoteserver, (i) a request for an indication of at least one media item froma remote queue of media items, and (ii) an indication of a particularmedia item that is being played by the playback device. The functionsmay also include receiving an indication of one or more media items fromthe remote queue of media items. The one or more media items may includethe particular media item is being played by the playback device. Thefunctions may further include incorporating an indication of the one ormore media items into a local queue of media items.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to perform functions. The functions may include sending, to aremote server, (i) a request for an indication of at least one mediaitem from a remote queue of media items, and (ii) an indication of aparticular media item that is being played by the playback device. Thefunctions may also include receiving an indication of one or more mediaitems from the remote queue of media items. The one or more media itemsmay include the particular media item is being played by the playbackdevice. The functions may further include incorporating an indication ofthe one or more media items into a local queue of media items.

In yet another aspect, another method is provided. The method mayinvolve receiving, from a media playback system, (i) a request for anindication of at least one media item from a remote queue of mediaitems, and (ii) an indication of a particular media item that is beingplayed by a playback device of the media playback system. The method mayalso involve determining one or more media items from the remote queue.The determined one or more items may include the particular media item.The method may further involve sending an indication of the determinedone or more media items from the remote queue to the media playbacksystem.

In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes a networkinterface, at least one processor, a data storage, and program logicstored in the data storage and executable by the at least one processorto perform functions. The functions may include receiving, from a mediaplayback system, (i) a request for an indication of at least one mediaitem from a remote queue of media items, and (ii) an indication of aparticular media item that is being played by a playback device of themedia playback system. The functions may also include determining one ormore media items from the remote queue. The determined one or more itemsmay include the particular media item. The functions may further includesending an indication of the determined one or more media items from theremote queue to the media playback system.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to perform functions. The functions may include receiving, from amedia playback system, (i) a request for an indication of at least onemedia item from a remote queue of media items, and (ii) an indication ofa particular media item that is being played by a playback device of themedia playback system. The functions may also include determining one ormore media items from the remote queue. The determined one or more itemsmay include the particular media item. The functions may further includesending an indication of the determined one or more media items from theremote queue to the media playback system.

As further indicated above, example techniques may involve playbackpolicies of a queue. In one aspect, a method is provided. The method mayinvolve receiving, from a media playback system, at least one requestfor an indication of one or more media items from a queue of mediaitems. The method may also involve identifying one or more playbackpolicies that are associated with the queue of media items. Each of theone or more playback policies may restrict at least one aspect ofplayback of at least one of the one or more media items. The method mayfurther involve sending, to the media playback system, an indication ofthe identified one or more playback policies.

In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes a networkinterface, at least one processor, a data storage, and program logicstored in the data storage and executable by the at least one processorto perform functions. The functions may include receiving, from a mediaplayback system, at least one request for an indication of one or moremedia items from a queue of media items. The functions may also includeidentifying one or more playback policies that are associated with thequeue of media items. Each of the one or more playback policies mayrestrict at least one aspect of playback of at least one of the one ormore media items. The functions may further include sending, to themedia playback system, an indication of the identified one or moreplayback policies.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to perform functions. The functions may include receiving, from amedia playback system, at least one request for an indication of one ormore media items from a queue of media items. The functions may alsoinclude identifying one or more playback policies that are associatedwith the queue of media items. Each of the one or more playback policiesmay restrict at least one aspect of playback of at least one of the oneor more media items. The functions may further include sending, to themedia playback system, an indication of the identified one or moreplayback policies.

In yet another aspect, another method is provided. The method mayinvolve receiving input data indicating a request to playback a queue ofmedia items. The method may also involve sending a request for anindication of one or more media items from the queue of media items. Themethod may further involve receiving (i) an indication of at least onemedia item from the queue; and (ii) an indication of one or moreplayback policies that are associated with the queue of media items.Each of the one or more playback policies may restrict at least oneaspect of playback of the at least one media item from the queue. Themethod may additionally involve causing a graphical interface to display(i) a graphical indication of the at least one media item, and (ii) agraphical indication that at least one playback policy is associatedwith the at least one media item.

In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes a networkinterface, at least one processor, a data storage, and program logicstored in the data storage and executable by the at least one processorto perform functions. The functions may include receiving input dataindicating a request to playback a queue of media items. The functionsmay also include sending a request for an indication of one or moremedia items from the queue of media items. The functions may furtherinclude receiving (i) an indication of at least one media item from thequeue; and (ii) an indication of one or more playback policies that areassociated with the queue of media items. Each of the one or moreplayback policies may restrict at least one aspect of playback of the atleast one media item from the queue. The functions may additionallyinclude causing a graphical interface to display (i) a graphicalindication of the at least one media item, and (ii) a graphicalindication that at least one playback policy is associated with the atleast one media item.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to perform functions. The functions may include receiving inputdata indicating a request to playback a queue of media items. Thefunctions may also include sending a request for an indication of one ormore media items from the queue of media items. The functions mayfurther include receiving (i) an indication of at least one media itemfrom the queue; and (ii) an indication of one or more playback policiesthat are associated with the queue of media items. Each of the one ormore playback policies may restrict at least one aspect of playback ofthe at least one media item from the queue. The functions mayadditionally include causing a graphical interface to display (i) agraphical indication of the at least one media item, and (ii) agraphical indication that at least one playback policy is associatedwith the at least one media item.

It will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that thisdisclosure includes numerous other embodiments. It will be understood byone of ordinary skill in the art that this disclosure includes numerousother embodiments. While some examples described herein may refer tofunctions performed by given actors such as “users” and/or otherentities, it should be understood that this description is for purposesof explanation only. The claims should not be interpreted to requireaction by any such example actor unless explicitly required by thelanguage of the claims themselves.

II. Example Operating Environment

FIG. 1 illustrates an example configuration of a media playback system100 in which one or more embodiments disclosed herein may be practicedor implemented. The media playback system 100 as shown is associatedwith an example home environment having several rooms and spaces, suchas for example, a master bedroom, an office, a dining room, and a livingroom. As shown in the example of FIG. 1, the media playback system 100includes playback devices 102-124, control devices 126 and 128, and awired or wireless network router 130.

Further discussions relating to the different components of the examplemedia playback system 100 and how the different components may interactto provide a user with a media experience may be found in the followingsections. While discussions herein may generally refer to the examplemedia playback system 100, technologies described herein are not limitedto applications within, among other things, the home environment asshown in FIG. 1. For instance, the technologies described herein may beuseful in environments where multi-zone audio may be desired, such as,for example, a commercial setting like a restaurant, mall or airport, avehicle like a sports utility vehicle (SUV), bus or car, a ship or boat,an airplane, and so on.

a. Example Playback Devices

FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of an example playback device200 that may be configured to be one or more of the playback devices102-124 of the media playback system 100 of FIG. 1. The playback device200 may include a processor 202, software components 204, memory 206,audio processing components 208, audio amplifier(s) 210, speaker(s) 212,and a network interface 214 including wireless interface(s) 216 andwired interface(s) 218. In one case, the playback device 200 may notinclude the speaker(s) 212, but rather a speaker interface forconnecting the playback device 200 to external speakers. In anothercase, the playback device 200 may include neither the speaker(s) 212 northe audio amplifier(s) 210, but rather an audio interface for connectingthe playback device 200 to an external audio amplifier or audio-visualreceiver.

In one example, the processor 202 may be a clock-driven computingcomponent configured to process input data according to instructionsstored in the memory 206. The memory 206 may be a tangiblecomputer-readable medium configured to store instructions executable bythe processor 202. For instance, the memory 206 may be data storage thatcan be loaded with one or more of the software components 204 executableby the processor 202 to achieve certain functions. In one example, thefunctions may involve the playback device 200 retrieving audio data froman audio source or another playback device. In another example, thefunctions may involve the playback device 200 sending audio data toanother device or playback device on a network. In yet another example,the functions may involve pairing of the playback device 200 with one ormore playback devices to create a multi-channel audio environment.

Certain functions may involve the playback device 200 synchronizingplayback of audio content with one or more other playback devices.During synchronous playback, a listener will preferably not be able toperceive time-delay differences between playback of the audio content bythe playback device 200 and the one or more other playback devices. U.S.Pat. No. 8,234,395 entitled, “System and method for synchronizingoperations among a plurality of independently clocked digital dataprocessing devices,” which is hereby incorporated by reference, providesin more detail some examples for audio playback synchronization amongplayback devices.

The memory 206 may further be configured to store data associated withthe playback device 200, such as one or more zones and/or zone groupsthe playback device 200 is a part of, audio sources accessible by theplayback device 200, or a playback queue that the playback device 200(or some other playback device) may be associated with. The data may bestored as one or more state variables that are periodically updated andused to describe the state of the playback device 200. The memory 206may also include the data associated with the state of the other devicesof the media system, and shared from time to time among the devices sothat one or more of the devices have the most recent data associatedwith the system. Other embodiments are also possible.

The audio processing components 208 may include one or moredigital-to-analog converters (DAC), an audio preprocessing component, anaudio enhancement component or a digital signal processor (DSP), and soon. In one embodiment, one or more of the audio processing components208 may be a subcomponent of the processor 202. In one example, audiocontent may be processed and/or intentionally altered by the audioprocessing components 208 to produce audio signals. The produced audiosignals may then be provided to the audio amplifier(s) 210 foramplification and playback through speaker(s) 212. Particularly, theaudio amplifier(s) 210 may include devices configured to amplify audiosignals to a level for driving one or more of the speakers 212. Thespeaker(s) 212 may include an individual transducer (e.g., a “driver”)or a complete speaker system involving an enclosure with one or moredrivers. A particular driver of the speaker(s) 212 may include, forexample, a subwoofer (e.g., for low frequencies), a mid-range driver(e.g., for middle frequencies), and/or a tweeter (e.g., for highfrequencies). In some cases, each transducer in the one or more speakers212 may be driven by an individual corresponding audio amplifier of theaudio amplifier(s) 210. In addition to producing analog signals forplayback by the playback device 200, the audio processing components 208may be configured to process audio content to be sent to one or moreother playback devices for playback.

Audio content to be processed and/or played back by the playback device200 may be received from an external source, such as via an audioline-in input connection (e.g., an auto-detecting 3.5 mm audio line-inconnection) or the network interface 214.

The network interface 214 may be configured to facilitate a data flowbetween the playback device 200 and one or more other devices on a datanetwork. As such, the playback device 200 may be configured to receiveaudio content over the data network from one or more other playbackdevices in communication with the playback device 200, network deviceswithin a local area network, or audio content sources over a wide areanetwork such as the Internet. In one example, the audio content andother signals transmitted and received by the playback device 200 may betransmitted in the form of digital packet data containing an InternetProtocol (IP)-based source address and IP-based destination addresses.In such a case, the network interface 214 may be configured to parse thedigital packet data such that the data destined for the playback device200 is properly received and processed by the playback device 200.

As shown, the network interface 214 may include wireless interface(s)216 and wired interface(s) 218. The wireless interface(s) 216 mayprovide network interface functions for the playback device 200 towirelessly communicate with other devices (e.g., other playbackdevice(s), speaker(s), receiver(s), network device(s), control device(s)within a data network the playback device 200 is associated with) inaccordance with a communication protocol (e.g., any wireless standardincluding IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.15, 4Gmobile communication standard, and so on). The wired interface(s) 218may provide network interface functions for the playback device 200 tocommunicate over a wired connection with other devices in accordancewith a communication protocol (e.g., IEEE 802.3). While the networkinterface 214 shown in FIG. 2 includes both wireless interface(s) 216and wired interface(s) 218, the network interface 214 may in someembodiments include only wireless interface(s) or only wiredinterface(s).

In one example, the playback device 200 and one other playback devicemay be paired to play two separate audio components of audio content.For instance, playback device 200 may be configured to play a leftchannel audio component, while the other playback device may beconfigured to play a right channel audio component, thereby producing orenhancing a stereo effect of the audio content. The paired playbackdevices (also referred to as “bonded playback devices”) may further playaudio content in synchrony with other playback devices.

In another example, the playback device 200 may be sonicallyconsolidated with one or more other playback devices to form a single,consolidated playback device. A consolidated playback device may beconfigured to process and reproduce sound differently than anunconsolidated playback device or playback devices that are paired,because a consolidated playback device may have additional speakerdrivers through which audio content may be rendered. For instance, ifthe playback device 200 is a playback device designed to render lowfrequency range audio content (i.e. a subwoofer), the playback device200 may be consolidated with a playback device designed to render fullfrequency range audio content. In such a case, the full frequency rangeplayback device, when consolidated with the low frequency playbackdevice 200, may be configured to render only the mid and high frequencycomponents of audio content, while the low frequency range playbackdevice 200 renders the low frequency component of the audio content. Theconsolidated playback device may further be paired with a singleplayback device or yet another consolidated playback device.

By way of illustration, SONOS, Inc. presently offers (or has offered)for sale certain playback devices including a “PLAY:1,” “PLAY:3,”“PLAY:5,” “PLAYBAR,” “CONNECT:AMP,” “CONNECT,” and “SUB.” Any otherpast, present, and/or future playback devices may additionally oralternatively be used to implement the playback devices of exampleembodiments disclosed herein. Additionally, it is understood that aplayback device is not limited to the example illustrated in FIG. 2 orto the SONOS product offerings. For example, a playback device mayinclude a wired or wireless headphone. In another example, a playbackdevice may include or interact with a docking station for personalmobile media playback devices. In yet another example, a playback devicemay be integral to another device or component such as a television, alighting fixture, or some other device for indoor or outdoor use.

b. Example Playback Zone Configurations

Referring back to the media playback system 100 of FIG. 1, theenvironment may have one or more playback zones, each with one or moreplayback devices. The media playback system 100 may be established withone or more playback zones, after which one or more zones may be added,or removed to arrive at the example configuration shown in FIG. 1. Eachzone may be given a name according to a different room or space such asan office, bathroom, master bedroom, bedroom, kitchen, dining room,living room, and/or balcony. In one case, a single playback zone mayinclude multiple rooms or spaces. In another case, a single room orspace may include multiple playback zones.

As shown in FIG. 1, the balcony, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, office,and bedroom zones each have one playback device, while the living roomand master bedroom zones each have multiple playback devices. In theliving room zone, playback devices 104, 106, 108, and 110 may beconfigured to play audio content in synchrony as individual playbackdevices, as one or more bonded playback devices, as one or moreconsolidated playback devices, or any combination thereof. Similarly, inthe case of the master bedroom, playback devices 122 and 124 may beconfigured to play audio content in synchrony as individual playbackdevices, as a bonded playback device, or as a consolidated playbackdevice.

In one example, one or more playback zones in the environment of FIG. 1may each be playing different audio content. For instance, the user maybe grilling in the balcony zone and listening to hip hop music beingplayed by the playback device 102 while another user may be preparingfood in the kitchen zone and listening to classical music being playedby the playback device 114. In another example, a playback zone may playthe same audio content in synchrony with another playback zone. Forinstance, the user may be in the office zone where the playback device118 is playing the same rock music that is being playing by playbackdevice 102 in the balcony zone. In such a case, playback devices 102 and118 may be playing the rock music in synchrony such that the user mayseamlessly (or at least substantially seamlessly) enjoy the audiocontent that is being played out-loud while moving between differentplayback zones. Synchronization among playback zones may be achieved ina manner similar to that of synchronization among playback devices, asdescribed in previously referenced U.S. Pat. No. 8,234,395.

As suggested above, the zone configurations of the media playback system100 may be dynamically modified, and in some embodiments, the mediaplayback system 100 supports numerous configurations. For instance, if auser physically moves one or more playback devices to or from a zone,the media playback system 100 may be reconfigured to accommodate thechange(s). For instance, if the user physically moves the playbackdevice 102 from the balcony zone to the office zone, the office zone maynow include both the playback device 118 and the playback device 102.The playback device 102 may be paired or grouped with the office zoneand/or renamed if so desired via a control device such as the controldevices 126 and 128. On the other hand, if the one or more playbackdevices are moved to a particular area in the home environment that isnot already a playback zone, a new playback zone may be created for theparticular area.

Further, different playback zones of the media playback system 100 maybe dynamically combined into zone groups or split up into individualplayback zones. For instance, the dining room zone and the kitchen zone114 may be combined into a zone group for a dinner party such thatplayback devices 112 and 114 may render audio content in synchrony. Onthe other hand, the living room zone may be split into a television zoneincluding playback device 104, and a listening zone including playbackdevices 106, 108, and 110, if the user wishes to listen to music in theliving room space while another user wishes to watch television.

c. Example Control Devices

FIG. 3 shows a functional block diagram of an example control device 300that may be configured to be one or both of the control devices 126 and128 of the media playback system 100. Control device 300 may also bereferred to as a controller 300. As shown, the control device 300 mayinclude a processor 302, memory 304, a network interface 306, and a userinterface 308. In one example, the control device 300 may be a dedicatedcontroller for the media playback system 100. In another example, thecontrol device 300 may be a network device on which media playbacksystem controller application software may be installed, such as forexample, an iPhone™, iPad™ or any other smart phone, tablet or networkdevice (e.g., a networked computer such as a PC or Mac™).

The processor 302 may be configured to perform functions relevant tofacilitating user access, control, and configuration of the mediaplayback system 100. The memory 304 may be configured to storeinstructions executable by the processor 302 to perform those functions.The memory 304 may also be configured to store the media playback systemcontroller application software and other data associated with the mediaplayback system 100 and the user.

In one example, the network interface 306 may be based on an industrystandard (e.g., infrared, radio, wired standards including IEEE 802.3,wireless standards including IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n,802.11ac, 802.15, 4G mobile communication standard, and so on). Thenetwork interface 306 may provide a means for the control device 300 tocommunicate with other devices in the media playback system 100. In oneexample, data and information (e.g., such as a state variable) may becommunicated between control device 300 and other devices via thenetwork interface 306. For instance, playback zone and zone groupconfigurations in the media playback system 100 may be received by thecontrol device 300 from a playback device or another network device, ortransmitted by the control device 300 to another playback device ornetwork device via the network interface 306. In some cases, the othernetwork device may be another control device.

Playback device control commands such as volume control and audioplayback control may also be communicated from the control device 300 toa playback device via the network interface 306. As suggested above,changes to configurations of the media playback system 100 may also beperformed by a user using the control device 300. The configurationchanges may include adding/removing one or more playback devices to/froma zone, adding/removing one or more zones to/from a zone group, forminga bonded or consolidated player, separating one or more playback devicesfrom a bonded or consolidated player, among others. Accordingly, thecontrol device 300 may sometimes be referred to as a controller, whetherthe control device 300 is a dedicated controller or a network device onwhich media playback system controller application software isinstalled.

The user interface 308 of the control device 300 may be configured tofacilitate user access and control of the media playback system 100, byproviding a controller interface such as the controller interface 400shown in FIG. 4. The controller interface 400 includes a playbackcontrol region 410, a playback zone region 420, a playback status region430, a playback queue region 440, and an audio content sources region450. The user interface 400 as shown is just one example of a userinterface that may be provided on a network device such as the controldevice 300 of FIG. 3 (and/or the control devices 126 and 128 of FIG. 1)and accessed by users to control a media playback system such as themedia playback system 100. Other user interfaces of varying formats,styles, and interactive sequences may alternatively be implemented onone or more network devices to provide comparable control access to amedia playback system.

The playback control region 410 may include selectable (e.g., by way oftouch or by using a cursor) icons to cause playback devices in aselected playback zone or zone group to play or pause, fast forward,rewind, skip to next, skip to previous, enter/exit shuffle mode,enter/exit repeat mode, enter/exit cross fade mode. The playback controlregion 410 may also include selectable icons to modify equalizationsettings, and playback volume, among other possibilities.

The playback zone region 420 may include representations of playbackzones within the media playback system 100. In some embodiments, thegraphical representations of playback zones may be selectable to bringup additional selectable icons to manage or configure the playback zonesin the media playback system, such as a creation of bonded zones,creation of zone groups, separation of zone groups, and renaming of zonegroups, among other possibilities.

For example, as shown, a “group” icon may be provided within each of thegraphical representations of playback zones. The “group” icon providedwithin a graphical representation of a particular zone may be selectableto bring up options to select one or more other zones in the mediaplayback system to be grouped with the particular zone. Once grouped,playback devices in the zones that have been grouped with the particularzone will be configured to play audio content in synchrony with theplayback device(s) in the particular zone. Analogously, a “group” iconmay be provided within a graphical representation of a zone group. Inthis case, the “group” icon may be selectable to bring up options todeselect one or more zones in the zone group to be removed from the zonegroup. Other interactions and implementations for grouping andungrouping zones via a user interface such as the user interface 400 arealso possible. The representations of playback zones in the playbackzone region 420 may be dynamically updated as playback zone or zonegroup configurations are modified.

The playback status region 430 may include graphical representations ofaudio content that is presently being played, previously played, orscheduled to play next in the selected playback zone or zone group. Theselected playback zone or zone group may be visually distinguished onthe user interface, such as within the playback zone region 420 and/orthe playback status region 430. The graphical representations mayinclude track title, artist name, album name, album year, track length,and other relevant information that may be useful for the user to knowwhen controlling the media playback system via the user interface 400.

The playback queue region 440 may include graphical representations ofaudio content in a playback queue associated with the selected playbackzone or zone group. In some embodiments, each playback zone or zonegroup may be associated with a playback queue containing informationcorresponding to zero or more audio items for playback by the playbackzone or zone group. For instance, each audio item in the playback queuemay comprise a uniform resource identifier (URI), a uniform resourcelocator (URL) or some other identifier that may be used by a playbackdevice in the playback zone or zone group to find and/or retrieve theaudio item from a local audio content source or a networked audiocontent source, possibly for playback by the playback device.

In one example, a playlist may be added to a playback queue, in whichcase information corresponding to each audio item in the playlist may beadded to the playback queue. In another example, audio items in aplayback queue may be saved as a playlist. In a further example, aplayback queue may be empty, or populated but “not in use” when theplayback zone or zone group is playing continuously streaming audiocontent, such as Internet radio that may continue to play untilotherwise stopped, rather than discrete audio items that have playbackdurations. In an alternative embodiment, a playback queue can includeInternet radio and/or other streaming audio content items and be “inuse” when the playback zone or zone group is playing those items. Otherexamples are also possible.

When playback zones or zone groups are “grouped” or “ungrouped,”playback queues associated with the affected playback zones or zonegroups may be cleared or re-associated. For example, if a first playbackzone including a first playback queue is grouped with a second playbackzone including a second playback queue, the established zone group mayhave an associated playback queue that is initially empty, that containsaudio items from the first playback queue (such as if the secondplayback zone was added to the first playback zone), that contains audioitems from the second playback queue (such as if the first playback zonewas added to the second playback zone), or a combination of audio itemsfrom both the first and second playback queues. Subsequently, if theestablished zone group is ungrouped, the resulting first playback zonemay be re-associated with the previous first playback queue, or beassociated with a new playback queue that is empty or contains audioitems from the playback queue associated with the established zone groupbefore the established zone group was ungrouped. Similarly, theresulting second playback zone may be re-associated with the previoussecond playback queue, or be associated with a new playback queue thatis empty, or contains audio items from the playback queue associatedwith the established zone group before the established zone group wasungrouped. Other examples are also possible.

Referring back to the user interface 400 of FIG. 4, the graphicalrepresentations of audio content in the playback queue region 440 mayinclude track titles, artist names, track lengths, and other relevantinformation associated with the audio content in the playback queue. Inone example, graphical representations of audio content may beselectable to bring up additional selectable icons to manage and/ormanipulate the playback queue and/or audio content represented in theplayback queue. For instance, a represented audio content may be removedfrom the playback queue, moved to a different position within theplayback queue, or selected to be played immediately, or after anycurrently playing audio content, among other possibilities. A playbackqueue associated with a playback zone or zone group may be stored in amemory on one or more playback devices in the playback zone or zonegroup, on a playback device that is not in the playback zone or zonegroup, and/or some other designated device. Playback of such a playbackqueue may involve one or more playback devices playing back media itemsof the queue, perhaps in sequential or random order.

The audio content sources region 450 may include graphicalrepresentations of selectable audio content sources from which audiocontent may be retrieved and played by the selected playback zone orzone group. Discussions pertaining to audio content sources may be foundin the following section.

d. Example Audio Content Sources

As indicated previously, one or more playback devices in a zone or zonegroup may be configured to retrieve for playback audio content (e.g.,according to a corresponding URI or URL for the audio content) from avariety of available audio content sources. In one example, audiocontent may be retrieved by a playback device directly from acorresponding audio content source (e.g., a line-in connection). Inanother example, audio content may be provided to a playback device overa network via one or more other playback devices or network devices.

Example audio content sources may include a memory of one or moreplayback devices in a media playback system such as the media playbacksystem 100 of FIG. 1, local music libraries on one or more networkdevices (such as a control device, a network-enabled personal computer,or a networked-attached storage (NAS), for example), streaming audioservices providing audio content via the Internet (e.g., the cloud), oraudio sources connected to the media playback system via a line-in inputconnection on a playback device or network devise, among otherpossibilities.

In some embodiments, audio content sources may be regularly added orremoved from a media playback system such as the media playback system100 of FIG. 1. In one example, an indexing of audio items may beperformed whenever one or more audio content sources are added, removedor updated. Indexing of audio items may involve scanning foridentifiable audio items in all folders/directory shared over a networkaccessible by playback devices in the media playback system, andgenerating or updating an audio content database containing metadata(e.g., title, artist, album, track length, among others) and otherassociated information, such as a URI or URL for each identifiable audioitem found. Other examples for managing and maintaining audio contentsources may also be possible.

The above discussions relating to playback devices, controller devices,playback zone configurations, and media content sources provide onlysome examples of operating environments within which functions andmethods described below may be implemented. Other operating environmentsand configurations of media playback systems, playback devices, andnetwork devices not explicitly described herein may also be applicableand suitable for implementation of the functions and methods.

e. Example Cloud Computing Functions

Various references are made herein to “cloud computing.” The term “cloudcomputing” is used to refer to services delivered using distributedcomputing over a network, such as the Internet. A non-exhaustive list ofservices delivered via the cloud include electronic mail (e.g., GMAIL®or HOTMAIL®), social networking (e.g., FACEBOOK®, LINKEDIN®, orTWITTER®), file hosting (e.g., DROPBOX®), and streaming audio (e.g.,SPOTIFY®, PANDORA®, or BEATSAUDIO®). Other cloud services are certainlyoffered as well.

Cloud service providers may offer one or more interfaces for accessingtheir service over a network. For instance, some cloud services may beaccessed by visiting a web site using a web browser. Other cloudservices are accessed by executing a particular application specific tothe cloud service on a computing device. Some cloud services may offeran application programming interface (API) to facilitate access to theservice by a third-party web site or application. Cloud services mayprovide multiple techniques for accessing their service. In many cases,a user who has access to a given cloud service can access the servicefrom any computing device that is connected to the network, providedthat the computing device has a supported interface to the cloudservice.

In one instance, accessing a cloud service may involve accessing, with afirst computing device (i.e., a client), a second computing device orsystem (i.e., a server). Example client devices may include playbackdevice 200 of FIG. 2, or control device 300 of FIG. 3, among otherpossible devices. One or more programs or applications (i.e.,instructions) may execute on the server to perform computing operationssupported by the cloud service. The client may send various commands tothe server to instruct the server to perform the computing taskssupported by the cloud service.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example computing system 500 that may provide acloud service to one or more users. Example computing system 500includes at least one processor 502, memory 504, and a network interface506. The memory 504 may contain instructions executable by the processor502 to perform computing tasks supported by a cloud service. Thecomputing device 500 may communicate with other computing devices viathe network interface 506.

In aggregate, the provision of a cloud service many involve multipleinstances of computing system 500. Each instance of computing system 500may provide the cloud service to one or more users. Cloud serviceproviders may scale the number of instances of computing system 500involved in providing the cloud service based on user demand.

Data-based representations of “user accounts” may facilitate access to acloud service. An individual user or a group of users may create adata-based “user account,” which may also be referred to simply as an“account.” An account for a particular user or user group may includedata related to the particular user or user group, which the user oruser group has opted to provide for association with the account. Assuch, the account of a particular user may, in a sense, be a data-basedrepresentation of that particular user.

A user may create an account for various applications, web sites, and/oronline services, for instance. Examples of accounts include e-mailaccounts, social network accounts, online financial accounts, serviceprovider accounts, among other possibilities. Further, in some cases, auser may have a single account that provides a data-based representationof the user for multiple services, websites, applications, etc. Forinstance, a user might opt to use their e-mail account or social networkaccount as a common login for various online services and applications,which might be provided by different entities. Such a data-basedrepresentation might be available to any of the instances of thecomputing systems involved in providing a service so that any of theinstances may provide similar access to the service when a particularaccount is authenticated (“logged-in”) with the service.

An account may also be used with devices and systems. For instance, auser of a device, such as a mobile phone, tablet computer, or laptopcomputer, may associate an account with the computing device itself,such that while the account is authenticated on the computing device,the account will be authenticated with applications that are provided onthe computing device. The user might also associate an account with amedia playback system, such that while the account is authenticated onthe media playback system, the media playback system operates accordingto preferences of the account. Moreover, in some cases, a user'saccounts for various services may be associated with one another. Forinstance, a user's account for a media playback system may be associatedwith the user's accounts for one or more streaming music services suchthat when a user's account for a media playback system is logged-in tothe media playback system, the media playback system has access to theone or more streaming music services that are associated with the user'saccount for the media playback system.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example cloud 600. The example cloud 600 mayinclude any number of computing devices which are interconnected via oneor more networks. For instance, cloud 600 may include one or moreinstances of computing system 500. As shown in FIG. 6, media playbacksystems 610, 620, and 630 are connected to cloud 600. Media playbacksystem 610 includes playback devices 612 and 614 and control device 616,each having a respective connection to cloud 600. Likewise, mediaplayback system 620 includes playback devices 622 and 624 and controldevice 626, also each having a respective connection to cloud 600. Andmedia playback system 630 includes playback devices 632 and 634 andcontrol device 636, also each having a respective connection to cloud600.

Using the cloud 600, media playback systems 610, 620, and 630 mayrespectively access various cloud services. For instance, media playbacksystems 610, 620, and 630 may access one or more streaming audioservices 602. As noted above, streaming audio services may provide audiocontent to media playback systems. Several example streaming audioservices that are currently available include SPOTIFY®, PANDORA®,BEATSAUDIO®, RDIO®, GOOGLE PLAY MUSIC ALL ACCESS®, SONY MUSICUNLIMITED®, ITUNES RADIO®, XBOX MUSIC®, and TUNEIN RADIO®. Otherstreaming audio services certainly exist, and other streaming audioservices may be offered in the future.

Media playback systems 610, 620, and 630 may also respectively accessone or more social network services 604. Social network services areoften characterized at least in part by various links between users ofthe service (or perhaps between accounts of the service). Such links arereferred to by different names, such as “friends”, “connections”,“followers”, or “favorites,” among other examples. Users may create suchlinks for various reasons. For instance, in some cases, the users mayhave a relationship outside of the social network (e.g., co-workers,relatives, or college friends). In other cases, two users may havesimilar interests (e.g., fans of a particular band or genre) or belongto a certain group and then form a link in the social network becausethey share these similar interests.

A cloud service provider may provide a cloud queue service 606. Thecloud queue service 606 may maintain or have access to one or moreplayback queues (cloud queues). In some instances, the cloud queueservice 606 may maintain playback queues for media playback systemsregistered with the cloud queue service 606. Such playback queues may bereferred to as cloud queues. In other instances, the cloud queue service606 may maintain multiple cloud queues for a particular media playbacksystem, perhaps with one particular cloud queue “active” (i.e.,“selected”) at any instant. In further instances, the cloud queueservice 606 may maintain a cloud queue that multiple media playbacksystems may access. One or more computing systems may be used to providethe cloud queue service 606 and to maintain the cloud queue(s) in datastorage.

Accessing a cloud queue may involve any of a variety of operations withrespect to the cloud queue. For instance, some devices may access thecloud queue to modify (e.g., add, remove, or re-order) media items in aplayback queue maintained by cloud queue service 606. Such devices mayinclude control devices, such as control device 300, or any suitabledevice having a network interface to communicate with the cloud queueservice 606. As another example, a media playback system, such as mediaplayback systems 610 and 620, may access the cloud queue to play backthe cloud queue.

Devices of a media playback system may provide control inputs that causea media playback system to access the queue. For instance, a controldevice of a media playback system (e.g., control device 300) may providean interface (e.g., controller interface 400) that includes variouscontrols. The control device may detect input at such controls andresponsively perform operations with respect to the cloud queue.Alternatively, a playback device of a media playback system may includevarious controls (e.g., buttons) that are operable to generate inputdata that requests various operations with respect to a cloud queue.

A cloud queue may have various advantages. For example, a cloud queuethat is maintained (e.g., hosted) on a computing system (e.g., a server)may be accessible by multiple media playback systems, which might bephysically located in different households. This type of accessibilitymay permit various joint (“social”) functions. As one example, themultiple media playback systems may play back the cloud queue insynchrony, such that respective users of the multiple media playbacksystems may experience a social listening session. As another example, acloud queue may provide greater flexibility in where and how the queueis modified (e.g., media items added, removed, or re-ordered) as someembodiments may have the functionality to enable devices to requestmodifications to the cloud queue via a network. For instance, a usermight make modifications to a cloud queue using a smartphone while onthe go, and, at a later time, listen to that cloud queue while in thepresence of the user's media playback system. A cloud queue mayfacilitate greater flexibility in where the queue is played back (e.g.,a cloud queue may be played back on both home and work media playbacksystems). Streaming audio services (e.g., streaming audio services 602)may facilitate a cloud queue, as media playback systems in differentphysical locations may each have access to the same media items throughone or more streaming audio services.

Access to a cloud queue may be controlled or restricted using varioustechniques. Some example techniques may involve controlling access to acloud queue based on the identity of the entity that is accessing thecloud queue. Other example techniques may involve controlling access toa cloud queue based on a configuration or settings of the cloud queueitself.

FIG. 7 shows example playback queue 700. Playback queue 700 includes alist of entries 702-732. Entries 702-732 contain Songs A-P in positions1-16, respectively, by having respective metadata for each songassociated with each entry. The metadata may also include an indication,such as a uniform resource identifier (URI), which indicates where eachsong is stored. For instance, for a particular song, the metadata mayinclude a uniform resource locator (URL) indicating where thatparticular song can be retrieved from a streaming audio service, such asstreaming audio service 602 depicted in FIG. 6. Songs A-P may representany of the example audio items noted above. Although playback queue 700is shown by way of example as including 15 entries, playback queue 700may gain additional entries or have fewer entries if media items areadded (i.e., inserted) or removed (i.e., deleted) from playback queue700, respectively. Media playback systems may play back the queue 700,perhaps in a certain order, such as sequential playback by position orrandom (shuffle) playback.

Playback queue 700 may be maintained for one or more media playbacksystems by a cloud queue service, such as cloud queue service 606, andbe referred to as a “cloud queue.” For example, an instance of computingsystem 500 of FIG. 5 (which may provide cloud queue service 606) maymaintain playback queue 700 for media playback system 610. In such anexample, playback device 612 and/or playback device 616 may maintain alocal copy of playback queue 700, perhaps in a memory, such as memory206 of FIG. 2. Alternately, playback queue 700 may be maintained onanother computing system, such as an instance of control device 300 ofFIG. 3. Such a local copy may provide a cached instance of a cloudqueue, such that devices of the media playback system may access thelocal copy and avoid transmission delays that may be involved inaccessing the cloud queue, among other possible benefits.

The above discussions relating to playback devices, controller devices,playback zone configurations, media content sources, and cloud computingprovide only some examples of operating environments within whichfunctions and methods described below may be implemented. Otheroperating environments and configurations of media playback systems,playback devices, and network devices not explicitly described hereinmay also be applicable and suitable for implementation of the functionsand methods.

Methods 800, 1000, 1200, 1400, 1500, and 1700 shown in FIGS. 8, 10, 12,14, 15, and 17, respectively, present embodiments of methods that can beimplemented within an operating environment including, for example, themedia playback system 100 of FIG. 1, one or more of the playback device200 of FIG. 2, one or more of the control device 300 of FIG. 3, or oneor more of the computing system 500 of FIG. 5. Further, operationsillustrated by way of example as being performed by a media playbacksystem can be performed by any suitable device, such as a playbackdevice or a control device of a media playback system. Methods 800,1000, 1200, 1400, 1500, and 1700 may include one or more operations,functions, or actions as illustrated by one or more of blocks shown inFIGS. 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, and 17, respectively. Although the blocks areillustrated in sequential order, these blocks may also be performed inparallel, and/or in a different order than those described herein. Also,the various blocks may be combined into fewer blocks, divided intoadditional blocks, and/or removed based upon the desired implementation.

In addition, for the methods and other processes disclosed herein, theflowcharts show functionality and operation of one possibleimplementation of present embodiments. In this regard, each block mayrepresent a module, a segment, or a portion of program code, whichincludes one or more instructions executable by a processor forimplementing specific logical functions or steps in the process. Theprogram code may be stored on any type of computer readable medium, forexample, such as a storage device including a disk or hard drive. Thecomputer readable medium may include non-transitory computer readablemedium, for example, such as computer-readable media that stores datafor short periods of time like register memory, processor cache, andRandom Access Memory (RAM). The computer readable medium may alsoinclude non-transitory media, such as secondary or persistent long termstorage, like read only memory (ROM), optical or magnetic disks,compact-disc read only memory (CD-ROM), for example. The computerreadable media may also be any other volatile or non-volatile storagesystems. The computer readable medium may be considered a computerreadable storage medium, for example, or a tangible storage device. Inaddition, for the methods and other processes disclosed herein, eachblock may represent circuitry that is wired to perform the specificlogical functions in the process.

III. Example Techniques to Facilitate Playback Using a Playhead

As discussed above, embodiments described herein may involve a playheadpointer that indicates a particular media item of a cloud queue. Theplayhead pointer may facilitate playback of the queue by identifying acurrently playing media item (or a media item that a media playbacksystem is preparing to play) to the remote server and/or to mediaplayback systems that are accessing the queue.

In some examples, a playback pointer may facilitate play back of a cloudqueue by mitigating some effects of latency. Unlike local playback of alocal queue by a media playback system, local playback of a cloud queueby a media playback system may involve the additional operations ofcommunicating with a remote server that maintains or has access to thecloud queue. Because a remote server that maintains a cloud queue andmedia playback systems that might play back the cloud queue areseparated by one or more networks, significant latency may exist betweenthe remote server and each media playback system. This latency may allowthe remote system to become “out of sync” with one or more of the mediaplayback systems. For instance, a remote server and a media playbacksystem may identify different media items within the queue as thecurrently playing media item. Use of a playback pointer may mitigatesuch issues and may have other advantages as well.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example method 800 to facilitate playback using aplayhead pointer. Within examples, a computing system (e.g., a server)may maintain a playhead pointer for a queue.

a. Receive Request for Indication of Playhead Pointer

At block 802 of method 800, the method involves receiving a request foran indication of a playhead pointer. For instance, a computing system,such as computing system 500 of FIG. 5, may receive a request for anindication of a playhead pointer for a particular queue of media itemsthat the computing system maintains or has access to. The queue may be acloud queue, such as an instance of playback queue 700 of FIG. 7.

As indicated above, a playhead pointer may be assigned to a positionwithin a queue of media items. Each position in the queue may correspondto a media item, such that by assigning a playhead pointer to aparticular position of the queue, the playhead pointer indicates aparticular media item at that position within the queue. In operation,the playhead pointer may identify a currently playing media item of thecloud queue, or perhaps a media item that will be currently playing ifplayback of the cloud queue is initiated.

A media playback system may send a request for an indication of aplayhead pointer as an aspect of performing certain operations. As notedabove, a media playback system may access a queue. Such access mayinclude playback of the queue, display of the queue, or manipulation ofthe queue, among other examples. Some of these operations may involve aplayhead pointer for the queue, as the playhead pointer may identify aparticular media item having relevance to the operation. For instance,as noted above, a playhead pointer may identify a currently playingmedia item of the cloud queue, or perhaps a media item that will beplaying if playback of the cloud queue is initiated. Accordingly, incarrying out certain operations, a media playback system may send arequest for an indication of a playhead pointer. After requesting (andthereafter receiving) the requested indication, the media playbacksystem might use the received indication of the playhead pointer toproceed in carrying out those operations.

In some embodiments, a media playback system may send a request for anindication of a playhead pointer to a computing system that maintains orhas access to the queue. For instance, a playback device (e.g., playbackdevice 200 of FIG. 2) or a control device (e.g., control device 300 ofFIG. 3) of a media playback system may send a request to a computingsystem that assists in providing a cloud service by maintaining a cloudqueue of media items. The media playback system and the computing systemmay be separated by one or more networks (e.g., one or more localnetworks and one or more wide area networks, such as the Internet) suchthat the computing system is remote from the media playback system. Forinstance, devices of a media playback system might be situated in a homeor workplace and a computing system maintaining a cloud queue might besituated in a data center. One or more networks may communicativelycouple the respective systems.

FIG. 9A illustrates an example environment 900A that includes a remoteserver 902 that maintains a cloud queue 912. Cloud queue 912 representsan example queue of media items that can be maintained by a cloudservice. Cloud queue 912 may be an instance of playback queue 700 ofFIG. 7, perhaps including a different sequence of media items. CloudQueue 912 includes a sequence of media items, including, in order,representative media items Song A, Song B, Song C, Song D, Song E, andSong F.

As shown in FIG. 9A, remote server 902 is connected to media playbacksystem 904, media playback system 906, and media playback system 908 byone or more networks 910, which may include one or more wide areanetworks, such as the Internet, as well as one or more local areanetworks (e.g., a 802.11 wireless local area network or 802.3 wiredlocal area network, or combination thereof). In operation, one or moreof media playback system 904, media playback system 906, and mediaplayback system 908 may connect to remote server 902 to access cloudqueue 912. As noted above, such access might include playback, display,or modification of cloud queue 912, among other examples.

In some embodiments, a media playback system, such as media playbacksystem 904, may be associated with cloud queue 912. Such association mayresult in cloud queue 912 being available for media playback system 904to access (e.g., playback). In some examples, media playback system 904may have requested remote server 902 to generate cloud queue 912, and beassociated with cloud queue 912 by virtue of having requested that cloudqueue 912 be generated. In other examples, another media playback system(e.g., media playback system 906 or 908) may have created cloud queue912 and media playback system 904 may become associated with cloud queue912 through one of various association procedures. For instance, mediaplayback system 904 may receive an invite to access cloud queue 912(perhaps from media playback system 906 via remote server 902).

As another example, media playback systems may be associated withrespective user accounts. Such user accounts may in turn be associatedwith respective user accounts of a social network (e.g., a user accountof a media playback system that represents a given user may beassociated with a user account of a social networking service that alsorepresents the given user). Given that connections between such accountsare created within the social network (e.g., the accounts are“friended”), media playback system 904 may optionally connect to cloudqueues created by media playback systems that are associated with suchconnected accounts. Other example association procedures are possible aswell.

As noted above, a media playback system may send a request for anindication of a playhead pointer as an aspect of performing certainoperations. In some embodiments, a media playback system may send such arequest as an aspect of playback. For example, media playback system 904may prepare to play back cloud queue 912, perhaps on one or moreplayback devices of media playback system 904. In some embodiments,preparing to play a queue may involve setting a particular queue as anactive queue for at least one playback device. For instance, a group ofplayback devices (e.g., a “zone”) may have access to multiple queues,with any one queue being active at any instance. As an example, mediaplayback system 904 may set cloud queue 912 as its active queue, perhapsupon receiving input data requesting such a configuration. Withinexamples, preparing to play a queue might involve additional oralternative operations.

Within examples, preparing to play back cloud queue 912 may involvereceiving input data indicating a request to initiate playback of cloudqueue 912. Such input data may cause the media playback system toperform further operations related to playback of a cloud queue (e.g.,sending a request for an indication of a playhead for the cloud queue).In some cases, a control device may receive such input data uponselection of a “Play” transport control in a playback control region(e.g., playback control region 410 of FIG. 4). Alternatively, a controldevice may receive input data indicating a selection of a media item ofcloud queue 912. Such input might be received in a playback queue region(e.g., playback queue region 440 of FIG. 4).

As noted above, a device of a media playback system (e.g., a controldevice) may maintain a local queue that provides a cached instance of acloud queue. Local queue 914 is an example of such a queue. Inoperation, a device of media playback system 904 may display anindication of local queue 914, perhaps in a playback queue region, andby such display also show a representation of the cloud queue that ismirrored by the local queue. The device may receive input that isdirected to the cloud queue (e.g., input data indicating a request toplay back the cloud queue beginning with a particular media item) butwhich is relative to the displayed local queue (e.g., a selection of theparticular media item within the displayed local queue). Such anarrangement may reduce the amount of perceived latency in somecircumstances, as operations may be performed with respect to the localqueue. Such operations may be propagated to the cloud queue.

As noted above, in some embodiments, operations involved in playback ofa particular queue may lead to a media playback system sending a requestfor an indication of a playhead pointer for the particular queue. Forexample, a control device or a playback device of media playback system904 may send such a request using a network interface over one or morenetworks 910 to remote server 902. Remote server 902 may receive therequest using a respective network interface.

Within examples, the media playback system may also send to thecomputing system an indication of the media item that the media playbacksystem is to play back. For example, as noted above, media playbacksystem 904 may receive input data indicating a particular media item ofthe cloud queue to play back. Media playback system 904 may send, toremote server 902, a media item identifier (e.g. a URI) that indicatesthe particular media item. Remote server 902 may receive such anidentifier, which may influence where the playhead pointer is assignedwithin cloud queue 912. For instance, the computing system may assignthe playhead pointer to the position within the queue that correspondsto the media item identified by the received media item identifier.Within examples, such an identifier could be sent with the request foran indication of a playback pointer or in a separate message to acomputing system.

In other cases, a particular media item to play back might not beindicated in such a message. For instance, the computing system mayreceive a request to playback the particular queue at the beginning ofthe particular queue (i.e., at the first media item). As an example,media playback system 904 may have received input data corresponding tomanipulation of a play transport control, which might correspond to adefault media item within the queue (e.g., the media item that isordered first in the queue or perhaps the media item that was lastplayed back) and send a request to play back cloud queue 912 beginningat that media item.

b. Identify A Playhead Pointer

At block 804 of FIG. 8, the method involves identifying a playheadpointer. For instance, a computing system may identify a position withina queue of media items to which a playhead pointer has been assigned.Each position in the queue may correspond to a media item, such that theassigned playhead pointer indicates a particular media item at thatposition within the queue. Alternatively, a computing system may assigna playhead pointer to a position with a queue of media items. Thecomputing system may identify the playhead pointer upon receiving therequest for an indication of a playhead pointer for the queue.

FIG. 9B shows an example environment 900B. As noted above in referenceto FIG. 9A, remote server 902 may maintain cloud queue 912 and receive arequest from media playback system 904 (or another media playbacksystem) for an indication of a playhead pointer for cloud queue 912. Asshown in FIG. 9B, the computing system may identify a position ofplayhead pointer 916 within playback cloud queue 912. For purposes ofillustration, playhead pointer 916 is depicted in FIG. 9B as a graphicalarrow icon that points to a particular position (‘1’) with playbackqueue 700. By assigning playhead pointer 916 to position ‘1’, playheadpointer may indicate the media item of position 1. As shown, position‘1’ of playback queue 700 corresponds to Song A.

Each position in a queue may correspond to a different URI. Accordingly,in some embodiments, the playhead pointer may be associated with a URIcorresponding to the position. The URI may include a string ofcharacters that identifies the position indicated by the playheadpointer. Remote entities, such as a media playback system, may accessthe position to which the playhead pointer is assigned using particularprotocols, such as the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or the FileTransfer Protocol (FTP). A portion of the URI may indicate an operationto access or obtain the media item at the position by way of a protocol.

As indicated above, in some cases, a playhead pointer might not yet beassigned to a particular position. In such cases, identifying theplayhead pointer may involve assigning a playhead pointer to a positionwithin a queue of media items, perhaps upon determining that a playheadpointer is not yet assigned or upon receiving a request to assign theplayhead pointer to a different position. For instance, the computingsystem may assign playhead pointer 916 to a position within cloud queue912 (e.g., position ‘1’). Further, in further cases, a playhead pointermight not have been created. In such cases, the computing system maygenerate a playhead pointer configured to indicate a position in theparticular queue, and possibly assign the generated playhead pointer toa position within the queue.

In other cases, a playhead pointer might have already been assigned to aposition within the queue, perhaps based on an earlier request for anindication of a playhead pointer for the queue. In such cases,identifying the playhead pointer might involve determining the assignedposition of the playhead pointer, perhaps by querying a data storage inwhich the playhead pointer is maintained.

In some cases, the computing system may receive a media item identifierthat indicates a particular media item that a media playback system isto play back (perhaps with the request for the indication of a playheadpointer or in a separate message). A media playback system may send sucha media item identifier to the computing system based on receiving inputdata indicating the particular media item (e.g., input data indicating arequest to play the particular media item of the cloud queue). Afterreceiving such a media item identifier, the computing system may assignthe playhead pointer to the position within the queue that correspondsto that media item. For instance, media playback system 904 may receivea media item identifier that indicates Song B and assign the playheadpointer to the position in cloud queue 912 that corresponds to Song B(position ‘2’). In such cases, the media playback system may assign theplayback pointer to a particular position in the queue corresponding tothe particular media item (e.g., to position ‘2’).

In other cases, the computing system might not receive an indication ofa particular media item that the media playback system is to play back,perhaps because the media playback system is preparing to play a defaultitem. For example, as noted above, the remote server 902 may receive arequest to playback cloud queue 912 at the beginning of the particularqueue or, alternatively at some other default position, such as theposition of the media item of cloud queue 912 that was last played. Insuch cases, the media playback system may assign the playback pointer toa particular position in the queue which corresponds to that media item.

As noted above, in some cases, the computing system may receive arequest to assign the playhead pointer to a different position. A mediaplayback system may send such a request to the computing system undercertain conditions. For instance, the media playback system may receiveinput data requesting an operation that involves a change in theassigned position of the playhead (e.g., input data indicating atransport control to change the currently playing media item). Asanother example, a media item might finish playback at a media playbacksystem, and the media playback system may send an indication of this tothe computing system.

In some embodiments, a media playback system may maintain a localplayhead pointer. As noted above, a media playback system may maintain alocal queue that represents a cloud queue (perhaps by mirroring all orpart of the cloud queue). A media playback system may assign a localplayhead pointer to a particular position in the local queue. In someinstances, the media playback system may send an indication of theposition of the local playhead pointer within the local queue. Forexample, the media playback system may change the assigned position ofthe local playhead pointer, perhaps based on input data (e.g., atransport control to change the currently playing media item) or uponthe media item finishing playback. After receiving an indication of theposition of the local playhead pointer within the local queue, acomputing system may determine whether the particular position of thelocal playhead pointer in the local queue is different from the assignedposition of the playhead pointer (within a cloud queue). Given that therespective positions of the local playhead pointer and the playheadpointer of the cloud queue are different, the computing system mayre-assign the playhead pointer to a position with the cloud queuecorresponding to the position of the local playhead pointer within thelocal queue. In such a manner, the playheads of the local queue and thecloud queue might be synchronized.

c. Send Indication of Playhead Pointer

At block 806 of FIG. 8, the method involves sending an indication of theplayhead pointer. For instance, a computing system may send anindication of the assigned playhead pointer. The indication of theplayhead pointer may indicate the assigned position of the playheadpointer, so as to indicate a particular media item at that positionwithin the queue. Referring back to FIG. 9B, remote server 902 may send,by way of a network interface, an indication of playhead pointer 916 tomedia playback system 904 over one or more networks.

In some cases, sending the indication of the playhead pointer mayinvolve sending data indicating a uniform resource identifier. As notedabove, a URI may indicate the assigned position of the playhead pointerin a queue of media items. For instance, remote server 902 may send aURI indicating position ‘1’ to media playback system 904.

As noted above, media playback system 904 may use the indication of theplayhead pointer in carrying out certain operations. For instance, afterreceiving an indication of the playhead pointer, a media playback systemmay initiate playback of the queue at the assigned position of theplayhead pointer. In some examples, sending the indication of theplayhead pointer may cause the media playback system to initiateplayback of the queue at the assigned position of the playhead pointer,as receiving such a message may instruct the media playback system toinitiate playback of the queue at the assigned position of the playheadpointer. As noted above, in some cases, a media playback system mayinclude a zone of one or more playback devices. For instance, mediaplayback system 904 may include two playback devices that are groupedtogether into a zone (which may be associated with cloud queue 912 asthe active queue of the zone). In such an instance, the indication ofthe playhead pointer may cause the playback devices of the zone toinitiate playback of the media item in synchrony.

In some implementations, a device (e.g., a playback device) on which alocal queue is stored or maintained may control the positioning of thequeue. Under such an arrangement, requests to manipulate the assignedposition of a playhead pointer may go through the device and thenpropagate to the computing system on which the corresponding cloud queueis stored or maintained. In some cases, latency between devicesrequesting manipulation of the playhead and the device maintaining theplayhead may create the potential for race conditions. By firstmanipulating the assigned position of a playhead of a local queue andthen propagating the new position to the cloud queue, such issues may beavoided.

As an example of such an arrangement in operation, a computing system(e.g., remote server 902) may receive an indication of a command tomanipulate the assigned position of the playhead pointer. Such anindication may be received from a control device (e.g., a control deviceof media playback system 904). The control device may send such arequest based on receiving input data indicating a request to change acurrently playing (or currently paused) song (which may be the mediaitem to which the playhead pointer is assigned). As noted above, inoperation, a control device may provide a user interface (e.g., userinterface 400 of FIG. 4) that includes controls (e.g., transportcontrols) for changing such a media item. Based on such a request,remote server 902 may send, to the media playback system 904, anindication of the command to manipulate the assigned position of theplayhead pointer. Media playback system 904 may manipulate the positionof the playhead pointer on local queue 914 and send an indication of anew position (after the requested manipulation) of the playhead pointerto remote server 902. Remote server 902 may receive the indication ofthe new position of the playhead pointer, and re-assign playhead pointer916 to the new position within cloud queue 912. Remote server 902 maythen send to the control device an indication that the position of theplayhead pointer has been re-assigned.

Within examples, a computing system may assign a status to entities thatrequest access to a cloud queue. A given status may authorize the entityto which the status is assigned to perform certain operations withrespect to a playhead pointer. Different statuses may be assigned todifferent entities. Each status may authorize the entity to perform adifferent set of operations with respect to the playhead pointer suchthat each status provides a particular level of access to the playheadpointer. For example, referring back to FIG. 9B, remote server 902 mayassign a first status to media playback system 904 and a second statusto media playback system 906. The first status and the second status mayauthorize media playback system 904 and media playback 906 to perform afirst set of operations and a second set of operations respectively.Remote server 902 might also assign a status to media playback system906 (e.g., the first or second statuses, or perhaps a third status thatauthorizes an entity to perform a third set of operations).

As one example, a computing system may assign an “owner” status and a“subscriber” status to respective entities (e.g., media playback system904 and media playback system 906). An owner status may authorizeentities (e.g., media playback system 904 (or a particular device orgroup of devices thereof)) to perform a first set of operations. Thefirst set of operations may include operations that correspond tomanipulation of the playhead pointer (e.g., operations to create aplayhead pointer for a queue or change its assigned position within thequeue). The subscriber status may authorize entities (e.g., mediaplayback system 906 (or a particular device or group of devicesthereof)) to perform a second set of operations that is different fromthe first set of operations. The second set of operations may includeoperations that correspond to “read” access. The “read” accessoperations may include operations in which the position that theplayhead indicator is assigned is read (e.g., identifying the assignedposition of the playhead pointer), but might exclude operations thatinvolve manipulation of the playhead pointer. Read access may includeoperations involved in a playback device playing back a cloud queue insynchrony with a playhead pointer. In some cases, the first set ofoperations might be inclusive of the second set of operations, and bereferred to as “full” access.

In some cases, the computing system may limit the number of entitieshaving the owner status to a threshold number of entities. For example,a playhead pointer may have a single owner but multiple subscribers. Insome cases, different devices within a media playback system may havedifferent statuses. For instance, a control device might have readaccess while a playback device has full access. As noted above, aplayback device on which a local queue is stored or maintained maycontrol the position of the playhead pointer. Other arrangements arepossible as well.

Further, as noted above, different media playback systems might havedifferent statuses. Such an arrangement may facilitate various jointlistening experiences among the different media playback systems. Forinstance, referring back to FIG. 9B, remote server 902 may assign anowner status to media playback system 904 that permits full access toplayhead pointer 916. Such a status may permit media playback system 904to manipulate the position of playhead pointer 916, perhaps by sending arequest for such manipulation over one or more networks 910. Remoteserver 902 may assign a subscriber status to media playback systems 906and 908 that permits read access to playhead pointer 916. Such a statusmay permit media playback systems 906 and 908 to playback cloud queue912 in synchrony with playhead pointer 916 (e.g., to playback the mediaitem at the position to which playhead pointer 916 is assigned). Underthis arrangement, playback system 902 may function as a “DJ” and mediaplayback systems 906 and 908 may function as listeners to the playbackorder determined by the DJ.

IV. Second Example Techniques to Facilitate Playback Using a Playhead

As discussed above, embodiments described herein may involve a playheadpointer that indicates a particular media item of a cloud queue. Theplayhead pointer may facilitate playback of the queue by identifying acurrently playing media item (or a media item that a media playbacksystem is preparing to play) to the remote server and/or to mediaplayback systems that are accessing the queue.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example method 1000 to facilitate playback usinga playhead pointer. Within examples, a device of a media playback system(e.g., a control device or a playback device) may perform operationsinvolving a playhead pointer to facilitate playback.

a. Receive Input Data that Associates Playback Devices with a Queue

At block 1002 of FIG. 10, the method involves receiving input data thatassociates one or more playback device with a queue. For instance, adevice, such as control device 300 of FIG. 3, may receive input datathat associates a zone (e.g., a group) of one or more playback deviceswith a particular queue of media items. The queue may be a cloud queue,such as playback queue 700 of FIG. 7. The device may receive such inputdata by way of a user interface (e.g., user interface 308). The userinterface may include a controller interface, such as controllerinterface 400 of FIG. 4, which may include various regions havingcontrols and/or information.

Within examples, a particular media playback system may maintain or haveaccess to a queue or plurality of queues. This plurality may includelocal queues (i.e., queues that are maintained by a device of the mediaplayback system) and/or cloud queues (i.e., queues that are maintainedby a system which is separated from the media playback system by atleast one wide area network (e.g., the Internet). As noted above, insome instances, a local queue may mirror a cloud queue, or a portion ofthe cloud queue, so as to provide an instance of the cloud queue that islocal to the media playback system (e.g., within a common local areanetwork). A controller interface of a media playback system may displayan indication of the queues that the media playback system maintains orhas access to.

A media playback system may create (and maintain) local queues or gainaccess to queues maintained by remote entities (e.g., remote serversand/or remote media playback systems). In some embodiments, the mediaplayback system may receive an indication of one or more queuesmaintained by a remote entity. A control device of the media playbacksystem may display an indication of the one or more queues maintained bythe remote entity (and perhaps also one or more local queues maintainedwithin the media playback system). Such an indication may be displayedin a controller interface, such as controller interface 400 of FIG. 4.

As noted above, a particular media playback may be divided into one ormore zones that include one or more respective playback devices. Withinexamples, playback devices of a zone may be configured to playback mediaitems in synchrony, either by playing the same content in synchrony orby playing in synchrony portions of the same content (e.g., stereochannels).

In operation, input data received by a device of a media playback systemmay lead to the media playback system (or the device thereof)associating a zone of one or more playback devices with a particularqueue of media items (e.g., any one of a plurality of queues that themedia playback system maintains or has access to). By way of such anassociation, the particular queue that is associated with a zone may beconsidered the “active” queue for that zone. Playback of the activequeue may involve playback of the media items of the queue on the one ormore playback devices of the zone. Within examples, a media playbacksystem may associate any zone of the media playback system with anyqueue that the media playback system maintains or has access to. Forinstance, referring back to FIG. 1, media playback system 100 mayassociate the Living Room zone (including playback devices 104, 106,108, and 110) with a particular queue (e.g., queue 700 of FIG. 7).Playback of the particular queue may then involve playback of the mediaitems of queue 700 on playback devices 104, 106, 108, and 110.

For instance, referring back to FIG. 9B, media playback system 904 mayinclude at least one zone of playback devices (e.g., one or moreinstances of playback device 200) that are configured to play audio insynchrony. A control device of media playback system 904 may receiveinput data that associates cloud queue 912 with a particular zone ofmedia playback system 904, such that cloud queue 912 is the active queueof the zone.

Within examples, receiving input data that associates a zone of one ormore playback devices with a particular queue of media items may causethe media playback system to perform one or more operations tofacilitate playback of the queue. Such operations may involve a playheadpointer.

b. Send Request for an Indication of a Playhead Pointer

At block 1004, the method involves sending a request for an indicationof a playhead pointer. For instance, the device of the media playbacksystem (e.g., the control device) may send to a computing system, suchas computing system 500 of FIG. 5, a request for an indication of aplayhead pointer for a particular queue of media items that thecomputing system maintains or has access to (e.g., a cloud queue).

As indicated above, a playhead pointer may be assigned to a positionwithin a queue of media items. Each position in the queue may correspondto a media item, such that by assigning a playhead pointer to aparticular position of the queue, the playhead pointer indicates aparticular media item at that position within the queue. In operation,the playhead pointer may identify a currently playing media item of thecloud queue, or perhaps a media item that will be currently playing ifplayback of the cloud queue is initiated.

As further indicated above, a media playback system may send a requestfor an indication of a playhead pointer as an aspect of performingcertain operations. As noted above, a media playback system may access aqueue. Such access may include playback of the queue, display of thequeue, or manipulation of the queue, among other examples. Some of theseoperations may involve a playhead pointer for the queue, as the playheadpointer may identify a particular media item having relevance to theoperation. For instance, after a zone of a media playback system isassociated with a cloud queue, a device of the media playback system maysend a request for an indication of a playhead pointer. As noted above,a playhead pointer may identify a currently playing media item of thecloud queue, or perhaps a media item that is configured to begin playingon the playback devices of the zone if playback of the cloud queue isinitiated.

In some embodiments, a media playback system may send a request for anindication of a playhead pointer to a computing system that maintains orhas access to the queue. For instance, a playback device (e.g., playbackdevice 200 of FIG. 2) or a control device (e.g., control device 300 ofFIG. 3) of a media playback system may send a request to a computingsystem that assists in providing a cloud service by maintaining a cloudqueue of media items. The media playback system and the computing systemmay be separated by one or more networks (e.g., one or more localnetworks and one or more wide area networks, such as the Internet) suchthat the computing system is remote from the media playback system. Forinstance, devices of a media playback system might be situated in a homeor workplace and a computing system maintaining a cloud queue might besituated in a data center. One or more networks may communicativelycouple the respective systems.

For instance, referring back to FIG. 9B, a particular zone of mediaplayback system 904 may be associated with cloud queue 912, such thatcloud queue 912 is the active queue of the zone. After such anassociation, a device of media playback system 904 (e.g., a controldevice) may send to remote server 902 a request for an indication of aplayhead pointer for cloud queue 912. As indicated above, afterreceiving such a request, remote server 902 may identify a positionwithin cloud queue 912 to which the playhead pointer of cloud queue 912is assigned. In some cases, remote server 902 may create the playheadpointer and/or assign the playhead pointer to a position. For instance,as noted above, remote server 902 may assign playhead pointer 916 toposition ‘1’ within cloud queue 912.

In some embodiments, media playback system 904 may also send a zoneidentifier to remote server 902, perhaps with the request for anindication of a playhead pointer. The zone identifier may indicate toremote server 902 which particular zone of media playback system 904 isrequesting the indication of the playhead pointer. In some embodiments,the zone identifier may include a playback device identifier thatindicates a particular playback device of the zone. This particularplayback device may maintain a local queue (e.g., local queue 914).

c. Receive Requested Indication of Playhead Pointer

At block 1006, the method involves receiving the requested indication ofthe playhead pointer. For instance, continuing the example above, adevice of media playback system 904 may receive an indication ofplayhead pointer 916. As noted above, the received indication ofplayhead pointer 916 may indicate the assigned position of the playheadpointer in cloud queue 912.

As noted above, after receiving a requested indication of a playheadpointer, a media playback system may use such a playhead pointer incarrying out certain operations. For instance, the control device maycause a graphical interface to display an indication of the assignedposition of the playhead so as to identify visually the position of thequeue to which the playhead pointer is assigned. In some cases, thecontrol device may cause the graphical interface to display anindication of a media item that corresponds to an assigned position of aplayhead in the queue of media items.

FIG. 11 shows a controller interface 1100. As shown, controllerinterface 1100 includes a playback control region 1110, a playback zoneregion 1120, a playback status region 1130, a playback queue region1140, and an audio content sources region 1150, which may correspond,respectively, to the playback control region 410, the playback zoneregion 420, the playback status region 430, the playback queue region440, and the audio content sources region 450 of controller interface400 shown in FIG. 4.

Controller interface 1100 of FIG. 11 also includes an arrow 1102 thatindicates a media item that corresponds to the assigned position of aplayhead pointer in a queue of media items. In addition, the title ofthe media item indicated by the playhead pointer is indicated in boldtext. While such indications are shown by way of example, otherimplementations may display an indication of the assigned position ofthe playhead using different techniques.

The media playback system may also use such a playhead pointer incarrying out other operations. For instance, the control device may sendan indication of the assigned position of the playhead pointer to aplayback device of the zone. The playback device may initiate playbackof the media item that is located at the assigned position of theplayhead pointer, perhaps in synchrony with other playback devices ofthe zone.

In some embodiments, the playback device may maintain a local queue(e.g., local queue 914 of FIG. 9B) that mirrors a cloud queue (e.g.,cloud queue 912), or a portion of a cloud queue. The playback device maydetermine whether the assigned position of the playhead position isconsistent with an assigned position of a local playhead pointer oflocal queue 914. If the positions are inconsistent, media playbacksystem 904 may update the position of the local playhead pointer orupdate the position of playhead pointer 916 by sending an indication ofthe position of the local playhead pointer to remote server 902.

In some cases, a control device of a media playback system may receiveinput data indicating a command to manipulate the position of theplayhead pointer. As noted above, a controller interface may includecontrols that facilitate manipulation of the assigned position of aplayhead pointer (perhaps to manipulate the currently playing mediaitem). For instance, the controller interface may include a playbackcontrol region (e.g., playback control region 410) having transportcontrols (e.g., skip forward or skip backward) and/or a playback queueregion 440 (by which individual media items may be selected). Inresponse to receiving such input data, the control device may send anindication of the command (or perhaps the new position of the playheadpointer) to a playback device of the zone. The playback device mayupdate the assigned position of a local playhead pointer within a localqueue (e.g., within local queue 914). The playback device may also sendan indication of the command (or perhaps the new position of theplayhead pointer) to the remote server that is maintaining the cloudqueue. Alternatively, the control device may send the indication of thecommand to the remote server.

In other cases, another media playback system may manipulate theassigned position of the playhead pointer within a cloud queue. Forinstance, a control device of media playback system 906 may send arequest to remote server 902 to manipulate the assigned position ofplayhead pointer 916 within cloud queue 912. Remote server 902 may thensend an indication of the newly assigned position to media playbacksystem 904. For instance, a control device of media playback system 904may receive one or more respective messages indicating respectivepositions of the playhead in the queue of media items (perhaps each timethe position of the playhead pointer is changed). Upon receiving eachmessage, the control device may cause a graphical interface to displayan indication of the respective position of the playhead indicated bythe message, so as to indicate the currently playing media item (orperhaps the media item that will play back if playback is initiated).

V. Example Techniques to Synchronize Queues

As noted above, embodiments described herein may involve synchronizing afirst queue (e.g., a cloud queue) and one or more second queues (e.g.,local queues). FIG. 12 illustrates an example method to synchronize alocal queue with a cloud queue.

a. Send Request for Indication of at Least One Media Item from Queue

At block 1202 of method 1200, the method involves sending a request foran indication of at least one media item from a queue of media items.For instance, a device (e.g., a playback device, such as playback device200 of FIG. 2) may send, to a remote server, a request for an indicationof at least one media item from a remote queue of media items that theremote server maintains or has access to. The device and the remoteserver may be separated by one or more networks, such as one or morelocal area networks and/or one or more wide area networks (e.g., theInternet), and the request may be sent by way of a network interface ofthe device. In some embodiments, the remote server may be involved inproviding a cloud service and the remote queue may be referred to as acloud queue.

FIG. 13A illustrates an example environment 1300A that includes a remoteserver 1302 which maintains a cloud queue 1312. Cloud queue 1312represents an example queue of media items that can be maintained by acloud service. Cloud queue 1312 may be an instance of playback queue 700of FIG. 7, perhaps including a different sequence of media items. CloudQueue 1312 includes a sequence of media items, including, in order,representative media items Song A, Song B, Song C, Song D, Song E, andSong F.

As shown in FIG. 13A, remote server 1302 is connected to media playbacksystem 1304, media playback system 1306, and media playback system 1308by one or more networks 1310, which may include one or more wide areanetworks, such as the Internet, as well as one or more local areanetworks (e.g., a 802.11 wireless local area network or 802.3 wiredlocal area network, or combination thereof). In operation, one or moreof media playback system 1304, media playback system 1306, and mediaplayback system 1308 may connect to remote server 1302 to access cloudqueue 1312. As noted above, such access might include playback, display,or modification of cloud queue 1312, among other examples.

As noted above, in some embodiments, a media playback system may beassociated with a cloud queue such that the cloud queue becomesavailable for the media playback system to access. For instance, mediaplayback system 1304 may be associated with cloud queue 1312 such thatcloud queue 1312 is available for media playback system 1304 to access,perhaps for playback or modification. To facilitate such access, mediaplayback system 1304 may initially synchronize a local queue (e.g.,local queue 1314) with cloud queue 1312. Such synchronization mayinvolve remote server 1302 sending an indication of one or more mediaitems of cloud queue 1312 to media playback system 1304. Media playbacksystem may incorporate those media items into the local queue that is tobe synchronized with cloud queue 1312 (e.g., local queue 1314). Forinstance, local queue 1314 is shown by way of example as including, insequence, Songs A-F from cloud queue 1312.

In operation, a media playback system may perform one or more operationsto keep a local queue of the media playback system in synchrony with acloud queue, as the queues may become out of sync when modifications aremade to either the local queue or the cloud queue. For instance, adevice of media playback system 1304 may perform operations to keeplocal queue 1314 of media playback system 1304 in synchrony with cloudqueue 1312. These operations may involve media playback system 1304sending, to remote server 1302 via the one or more networks 1310, arequest for an indication of at least one media item from cloud queue1312. Such a request may facilitate synchronizing cloud queue 1312 withlocal queue 1314, as remote server 1312 may respond to the request withan indication of certain media items from cloud queue 1312.

FIG. 13B illustrates an example environment 1300B which representsexample environment 1300A after several modifications to cloud queue1312. Compared with FIG. 13A, in FIG. 13B, cloud queue 1312 has beenmodified by re-ordering Song A and Song B from positions 1 and 2 topositions 2 and 1, respectively. Cloud queue 1312 has also been modifiedby removing Song C, such that subsequent media items have beenre-positioned upwards in the queue. Finally, cloud queue 1312 has alsobeen modified by adding Songs G and I in positions 6 and 7,respectively. The above modifications are described by way of example;other modifications to cloud queue 1312 are possible as well. Suchmodifications may be made by request of a media playback system, such asmedia playback system 1306 or 1308, or perhaps by a computing devicethat is not necessarily part of a media playback system (e.g., asmartphone, tablet, or laptop having a network interface). Mediaplayback system 1304 may send a request to remote server 1302 for anindication of at least one media item from cloud queue 1312, so as toreceive in response to the request an indication of cloud queue 1312 asmodified.

In some cases, in connection with a modification to a cloud queue, theremote server may send, to the media playback systems that areassociated with the cloud queue, an indication that the cloud queue hasbeen modified. Such an indication may notify the media playback systemsof the modification to the cloud queue. The indication may include arequest or instruction to send to the remote server a request for anindication of at least one media item from the cloud queue. Afterreceiving this indication, a media playback system may send a requestfor an indication of at least one media item based on receiving such arequest or instruction. For instance, a device of a media playbacksystem 1304 may send a request to remote server 1302 for an indicationof at least one media item from cloud queue 1312 in response toreceiving a request or instruction from remote server 1302 to send sucha request.

In some embodiments, the media playback system may also send anindication of a particular media item to the remote server. Such amessage may indicate to the remote server which media items of theremote queue to indicate in a message to the media playback system. Forinstance, the media playback system may send an indication of aparticular media item that is currently being played by the mediaplayback system. In such an example, sending the request for anindication of at least one media item from a remote queue may involvesending a request for a sequence of one or more media items from theremote queue that includes (e.g., begins with) the particular mediaitem.

Referring to FIG. 13B by way of example, Song B at position 2 may be thecurrently playing media item at media playback system 1304 (or perhapsthe currently playing media item of a zone of one or more groupedplayback devices). Media playback system 1304 may send, to remote server1302, a request for an indication of at least one media item from cloudqueue 1312 and an indication of Song B at position 2. The indication ofSong B at position 2 may indicate to remote server 1312 that mediaplayback system 1304 is requesting a sequence of media items from cloudqueue 1312 that include Song B at position 2. In some embodiments, thesequence may begin with Song B and include one or more subsequent mediaitems in the queue. Alternatively, the sequence may begin with a mediaitem that precedes Song B in the queue, and include Song B and includeone or more media items that follow Song B within the queue. As anotherexample, media playback system 1304 may send an indication of Song C atposition 3. Remote server 1302 may determine that Song C has beenremoved from position 3, and so the sequence may include a sequence ofmedia items beginning with Song D at position 3.

The number of media items to include in the sequence may vary byembodiment. Within examples, the number of media items may be greaterthan two (e.g., within the range of three to five), but may be greaterthan five in other examples. A sequence with a greater number of mediaitems may facilitate skipping forward over a greater number of mediaitems without requesting a new sequence, but such a sequence mayincrease the amount of data transmitted between the remote server andthe media playback system. In some examples, the media playback systemmay send an indication of the number of media items to include in thesequence. Alternatively, the number of media items in the sequence maybe pre-determined.

In some embodiments, the indication of the particular media item may besent with the request, so as to reduce or eliminate delay between theremote server receiving the indication of the particular media item andthe request. In some instances, the particular media item (e.g., thecurrently playing media item) may change during a delay between theremote server receiving the indication of the particular media item andthe receiving the request for media items, which may result inunpredictable behavior. Alternatively, the indication of the particularmedia item may be sent separately from the request.

Within examples, the particular media item indicated in the message tothe remote server may be a media item that is indicated by a playheadpointer. As noted above, a playhead pointer may be assigned to aposition within a queue, such that it indicates a particular media itemof the queue that is located at that position. And, as further noted, aplayhead pointer may indicate a currently playing media item or, ifplayback is paused, a media item that will play when playback isresumed. For instance, referring to FIG. 13B, a local playhead pointermay be assigned to a position within local queue 1314, and theparticular media item indicated in the message to remote server 1302 maybe the media item that is indicated by the local playhead pointer.

As noted above, a computing system, such as a remote server, maymaintain or have access to a plurality of queues. The media playbacksystem may send, to the remote server, an identifier indicating theremote queue from among one or more queues that the remote servermaintains or has access to. For instance, referring to FIG. 13B, mediaplayback system 1304 may send to remote server 1302 an identifierindicating cloud queue 1312 from among a plurality of queues maintainedby remote server 1302. The identifier may be included in a uniformresource identifier that identifies the cloud queue. Within examples,the media playback system may send the identifier in a message with therequest for an indication of at least one media item from the remotequeue, perhaps also with the indication of the particular media itemand/or the number of media items to include in the sequence.

In some embodiments, the request for an indication of at least one mediaitem from the queue may include a mechanism by which the remote servermay authenticate access to the queue. For instance, each request foraccess may include an authorization token. Alternatively, each requestfor access may include one or more credentials.

b. Receive an Indication of One or More Media Items from the RemoteQueue

At block 1204, the method involves receiving an indication of one ormore media items from the remote queue. For instance, the device (e.g.,a playback device, such as playback device 200 of FIG. 2) may receive anindication of one or more media items from the remote queue of mediaitems. The device may receive the indication by way of a networkinterface. Within examples, the message may indicate the one or moremedia items from the remote queue by way of respective uniform resourceidentifiers that identify each media item.

As indicated above, remote server 1302 of FIG. 13B may receive, frommedia playback system 1304, a request for an indication of at least onemedia item from cloud queue 1312. After receiving such a request, remoteserver 1302 may send an indication of one or more media items from cloudqueue 1312 to one or more devices of media playback system 1304. Mediaplayback system 1304 may then receive the indication of one or moremedia items from cloud queue 1312.

The indication of one or more media items from the remote queue mayinclude a sequence of one or more media items. Within examples, thesequence of one or more media items may include all of the media itemsof the queue or the sequence may include a subset (e.g., a “window”) ofmedia items from the queue. For example, the cloud queue may include asequence of 150 media items, and the received indication of one or moremedia items may include a sequence of 10 media items from among the 150media items.

As noted above, in some cases, the media playback system may send anindication of a particular media item (e.g., a media item that is beingplayed by a playback device of the media playback system) so as toindicate to the remote server which media items to indicate back to themedia playback system. For example, referring to FIG. 13B, mediaplayback system 1304 may indicate Song E at position 4 with a request toremote server 1302. In response to the request, media playback system1304 may receive an indication of a sequence of one or more media itemsthat includes Song E at position 4. For instance, the sequence mayinclude Song E at position 4, Song F at position 5, and Song G atposition 6. Within examples, the sequence might include additional mediaitems (e.g., media items preceding Song E at position 4 or additionalmedia items that follow Song E at position 4).

c. Incorporate Indication of One or More Media Items into a Local Queue

At block 1206, the method involves incorporating an indication of theone or more media items into a local queue. For instance, the device(e.g., a playback device, such as playback device 200 of FIG. 2) mayincorporate the indicated one or more media items into a local queue ofmedia items that the device maintains or has access to. For instance, aplayback device of a media playback system may maintain a local queuefor a zone (that includes one or more grouped media playback devices)and may incorporate the indicated one or more media items into the localqueue of the zone.

Within examples, incorporating the indicated one or more media itemsinto the local queue may involve replacing one or more media items ofthe local queue with the indicated one or more media items. Forinstance, a device of a media playback system might maintain, in datastorage, a local queue having a number of media items that is equivalentto the number of media items indicated. In such examples, the device mayreplace the media items of the local queue with the indicated mediaitems. Alternatively, the device may replace a section of the localqueue with the indicated one or more media items. For instance, theindicated one or more media items may include a sequence of five mediaitems, and the device may replace a section of the local queueequivalent to five media items (e.g., positions 2-6 of a local queue).

In some embodiments, incorporating the indicated one or more media itemsinto the local queue may involve inserting the indicated one or moremedia items into the local queue. For instance, the local queue mayinclude a sequence of media items in positions 1-5, respectively. Theindicated one or more media items may include a sequence of five mediaitems, and the device may inserted the sequence of five media items inpositions 6-10 of the local queue.

Alternatively, incorporating the indicated one or more media items intothe local queue may involve a combination of inserting the indicated oneor more media items into the local queue and removing other media itemsfrom the queue. For example, referring to FIG. 13B, media playbacksystem 1304 may indicate Song B at position 2 with a request to remoteserver 1302. In response to the request, remote server 1302 may sendmedia playback system a sequence of five media items. Because Song B andSong A have switched positions relative to the local queue, the sequencemay begin at Song B in position 1 (perhaps as to not interrupt playbackof Song B at the media playback system) and include four media itemsfollowing Song B. As shown in FIG. 13C, media playback system 1304 maythen incorporate the sequence of media items into local queue 1314 byadding or removing media items as necessary so as to synchronize theindicated portion of local queue 1314 with the relevant portion of cloudqueue 1312.

In some embodiments, after receiving the indication of one or more mediaitems from the remote queue of media items, a playback device of themedia playback system may send, to one or more additional playbackdevices, an indication of the one or more media items from the remotequeue of media items. Such a message may propagate the currentconfiguration of the cloud queue as indicated by the indication of oneor more media items to the one or more additional playback devices.After receiving such an indication, a playback device may incorporatethe indicated one or more media items into a respective local queue.

As noted above, a media playback system may include a control device(e.g., control device 300 of FIG. 3) that may be configured to cause agraphical interface to display a controller interface (e.g., controllerinterface 400 of FIG. 4). In some cases, such a control device may send,to the device that maintains the local queue (e.g., a playback device),a request for an indication of the one or more media items from theremote queue of media items for display. After receiving such a request,the device may send, to the control device, an indication of at leastone of the one or more media items from the remote queue of media items.Within examples, the device may retrieve the at least one of the one ormore media items from a local queue (e.g., by reference to datarepresenting the local queue). Alternatively, the device may identifythe at least one of the one or more media items from the receivedindication of the one or more media items from the remote queue. Otherexamples are possible as well.

In some cases, after receiving the indication of at least one of the oneor more media items from the remote queue of media items, the controldevice may cause a graphical interface to display an indication of themedia items. For instance, a control device may display a representationof the media items in a playback queue region of a controller interface(e.g., playback queue region 440 of FIG. 4). The indicated media itemsmay include all of the media items of the remote queue or a subset ofthose media items.

As noted above, in some cases, a remote server may notify a mediaplayback system that the cloud queue has been modified. Such anotification may take the form of a request for the playback device tosend a request for an indication of at least one media item from theremote queue of media items. Upon receiving such a request, the playbackdevice may detect whether the media item of the local queue that iscurrently playing has changed since the previous request for anindication of at least one media item from the remote queue was sent.For instance, a skip forward command received by the playback device mayhave caused the playback device to advance playback to the next mediaitem of the queue. Based on detecting that a different media item isbeing played (or that a different media item is indicated by a playheadpointer), the playback device may send to the remote server a requestfor an indication of at least one media item from the remote queue ofmedia items. The message containing the request may include anindication of the now playing media item, so as to indicate to theremote server which media items to indicate in a message to the mediaplayback system.

In some embodiments, a playback device device may send a messageindicating that playback of the particular media item (i.e., thecurrently playing media item) has finished. For instance, in operation,a playback device may be configured to detect when playback of a mediaitem finishes, and notify the remote server by way of a message. Afterreceiving a message indicating that playback of the currently playingmedia item has finished, the remote server may determine whether theindicated one or more media items has changed (e.g., whether any of themedia items within the sequence of media items has been removed orre-ordered or whether one or more media items have been added so as tochange the media items of the sequence). Based on determining that theindicated one or more media items has changed, the remote server maynotify the playback device that the cloud queue has been modified,perhaps by sending a request for the playback device to send a requestfor an indication of at least one media item from the remote queue ofmedia items.

In some cases, the media playback system may switch to different content(e.g., a different queue from the cloud queue), perhaps based on amessage or instruction that causes the media playback system to changecontent. The different content might be a different cloud queue, orperhaps a local queue (e.g., a local queue that is not synchronized orassociated with a cloud queue). The media playback system may notify theremote server that the content has changed, perhaps by sending theremote server a message indicating that the remote queue is not theactive queue at the playback device. After receiving such a request, theremote server may cease performing one or more of the above operationsinvolved in keeping the cloud queue synchronized with the local queue.For instance, the remote server may cease notifying the media playbacksystem of changes to the cloud queue.

VI. Second Example Techniques to Synchronize Queues

As noted above, embodiments described herein may involve synchronizing afirst queue (e.g., a cloud queue) and one or more second queues (e.g.,local queues). FIG. 14 illustrates an example method to synchronize alocal queue with a cloud queue.

a. Receive Request for an Indication of at Least One Media Item from aRemote Queue

At block 1402 of method 1400, the method involves receiving a requestfor an indication of at least one media item from a remote queue ofmedia items. For instance, a computing system (e.g., a remote server)may receive such a request from a device of a media playback system. Thedevice and the computing system may be separated by one or morenetworks, such as one or more local area networks and/or one or morewide area networks (e.g., the Internet), and the request may be receivedby way of a network interface of the device. The computing system maymaintain or have access to the remote queue. In some cases, thecomputing system may be involved in providing a cloud service, and theremote queue may be referred to as a “cloud queue.”

By way of example, referring back to FIG. 13A, a device of mediaplayback system 1304 may send to remote server 1302 a request for anindication of at least one media item from a remote queue of mediaitems. The device may send the request via the one or more networks1310. Remote server 1302 may then receive the request from mediaplayback system 1304.

The computing system may also receive an indication of a particularmedia item that is being played by one or more playback devices of amedia playback system (e.g., by a zone of one or more grouped mediaplayback systems). As noted above, such an indication may assist thecomputing system in determining which media items to indicate in amessage to the media playback system. The computing system may store anindication of the particular media item in data storage.

As indicated above, in some cases, the computing system may notify amedia playback system that the cloud queue has been modified. Forinstance, in operation, the computing system may detect modifications tothe remote queue. Such a notification may take the form of a request forthe playback device to send a request for an indication of at least onemedia item from the remote queue of media items. Upon receiving such arequest, the playback device may send a request for an indication of atleast one media item from the cloud queue.

b. Determine One or More Media Items from Cloud Queue

At block 1404, the method involves determining one or more media itemsfrom the remote queue. For instance, the computing system may determinea sequence of one or more media items that includes the particular mediaitem (e.g., the media item that the media playback system is currentlyplaying or perhaps, if playback is paused, a media item that will playwhen playback is resumed). Referring back to FIG. 13A, the currentlyplayback media item at media playback system 1304 may be Song B atposition 2 within cloud queue 1312 and the computing system maydetermine a sequence of media items that includes Song B (e.g., asequence of that includes the media items of positions 2-4).

Determining the one or more media items may involve searching the remotequeue for the particular media item. The position of the particularmedia item may change when the queue is modified (e.g., when media itemsare added to the queue, removed from the queue, or re-ordered within thequeue). Given that the particular media item is in the same position inthe remote queue as in the local queue, the computing system maydetermine a sequence that includes that position (e.g., a sequence thatbegins with that position). Alternatively, in circumstances in which theparticular media item is in a different position, the computing systemmay determine a sequence of media items that includes the particularmedia item and one or more media items that precede or follow the newposition of the particular media item.

c. Send Indication of One or More Media Items from Remote Queue

At block 1406, the method involves sending an indication of thedetermined one or more media items from the remote queue. For instance,the computing system may send to a device of the media playback system(e.g., a playback device, such as playback device 200 of FIG. 2) anindication of one or more media items from the remote queue of mediaitems. The computing system may send the indication by way of a networkinterface. Within examples, the message may indicate the one or moremedia items from the remote queue by way of respective uniform resourceidentifiers that identify each media item.

As noted above, in operation, the computing system may detectmodifications to the cloud queue. In some embodiments, the computingsystem may detect modifications to the cloud queue that affect thedetermined one or more media items from the cloud queue, as modificationof these media items may affect playback by the media playback system ofthe local queue that is synchronized to the cloud queue. In response todetecting a modification that affects the determined one or more mediaitems from the cloud queue, the computing system may send, to the mediaplayback system, a message indicating that the determined one or moremedia items have been affected. Such a message may take the form of arequest for the playback device to send a request for an indication ofat least one media item from the remote queue of media items. Based on amessage indicating that the determined one or more media items have beenaffected, the media playback system may send a request for an indicationof at least one media item from the remote queue of media items. In someembodiments, the computing system may pre-emptively determine one ormore media items from the modified remote queue and send the determinedone or more media items from the modified remote queue to the mediaplayback system.

In some embodiments, the device may send a message indicating thatplayback of the particular media item (i.e., the currently playing mediaitem) has finished. For instance, in operation, a playback device may beconfigured to detect when playback of a media item finishes, and notifythe remote server by way of a message. Accordingly, in some instances,the computing system may receive a message indicating that playback ofthe particular media item has finished. Based on receiving the messageindicating that playback of the particular media item has finished, thecomputing system may perform one or more operations. For instance, thecomputing system may determine a media item that is queued after theparticular media item in the remote queue. The computing system mayfurther update the stored data indicating the current track of theremote queue to indicate the determined media item that is queued afterthe particular media item.

As noted above, in some cases, the media playback system may change tocontent that is different from the remote queue (e.g., to another cloudqueue or to a local queue, or perhaps to a streaming radio station,among other examples). In some embodiments, such changing of the contentmay lead the media playback system to send a message indicating that theremote queue is not the active queue at the media playback system (orperhaps at a zone of one or more grouped media playback devices of themedia playback system). The computing system may receive such a message,and based on receiving the message, remove the media playback systemfrom a list of media systems that are associated with the cloud queue.Media playback systems that are configured to play back media items ofthe remote queue (e.g., that have the remote queue configured as theactive queue of a zone of playback devices) may be referred to assubscribers. Referring back to FIG. 13A, media playback system 1304,1306, and/or 1308 may have cloud queue 1312 configured as the activequeue and as such, be listed as subscribers to cloud queue 1312. In suchembodiments, removing the media playback system from a list of mediasystems that are associated with the cloud queue may involve removingmedia playback system 1304 from the list of subscribers to cloud queue1312.

VII. Example Techniques to Restrict Playback of a Queue According to Oneor More Playback Policies

As noted above, embodiments described herein may involve restrictingplayback of a queue according to one or more playback policies. Forexample, an example computing system may maintain or have access a cloudqueue. One or more playback policies may be associated with the cloudqueue and restrict how that cloud queue is accessed (e.g., played back)by remote entities. Playback policies may restrict certain featuresrelated to playback, such as skipping forward or jumping to anothertrack. Within examples, playback policies may be used to enforcelicensing agreements for media items within the queue. FIG. 15illustrates an example method to identify playback policies associatedwith the cloud queue and provide an indication of those playbackpolicies to a remote entity (e.g., a media playback system).

a. Receive at Least One Request for an Indication of One or More MediaItems from a Queue

At block 1502 of method 1500, the method involves receiving at least onerequest for an indication of one or more media items from a queue. Forinstance, a computing system (e.g., a remote server) may receive such arequest from a device of a media playback system. Such a request mayalso be referred to as a request for an indication of at least one mediaitem. The device and the computing system may be separated by one ormore networks, such as one or more local area networks and/or one ormore wide area networks, and the request may be received via a networkinterface. The computing system may maintain or have access to theremote queue. The remote queue may be referred to as a “cloud queue.”

FIG. 16 illustrates an example environment 1600 that includes a remoteserver 1602 that maintains cloud queue 1612 and 1614. Cloud queues 1612and 1614 respectively represent example queues of media items, whichmight be maintained by a cloud service. Cloud Queue 1312 includes asequence of media items, including, in order, representative media itemsSong B, Song J, Song C, Song D, Song A, and Song F. Cloud queue 1314also includes a sequence of media items, including, in order,representative media items Song G, Song B, Song H, Song I, Song E, andSong A. As shown in FIG. 16, remote server 1602 is connected to mediaplayback system 1604, media playback system 1606, and media playbacksystem 1608 by one or more networks 1610. In operation, one or more ofmedia playback system 1604, media playback system 1606, and mediaplayback system 1608 may connect to remote server 1602 to access cloudqueue 1612 and/or cloud queue 1614. As noted above, such access mightinclude playback, display, or modification of cloud queue 1612 and/orcloud queue 1614, among other types of access.

As noted above, in some embodiments, a media playback system may beassociated with a cloud queue such that the cloud queue becomesavailable for the media playback system to access. For example, mediaplayback system 1604 may be associated with cloud queue 1612 and cloudqueue 1614 such that both cloud queue 1612 and cloud queue 1614 areavailable for media playback system 1604 to access. As noted above,either one of the two queues might be active at any time on the mediaplayback system. Within examples, media playback system 1604 may havetwo or more zones of grouped playback devices, and each of cloud queue1612 and cloud queue 1614 may be active on a respective zone. Continuingthe example, media playback system 1606 may be associated with cloudqueue 1614.

Within examples, media playback systems 1604 and 1606 may send, toremote server 1602 respective requests for an indication of one or moremedia items from a queue. As noted above, media playback systems maysend such requests to identify the media items within a cloud queue andperhaps synchronize those items with a local queue. In some cases, mediaplayback systems 1604 and 1606 may request an indication of one or moremedia items from the same queue. For instance, remoter server 1602 mayreceive, from media playback systems 1602 and 1604, respective requestsfor an indication one or more media items from cloud queue 1614.Alternatively, the media playback systems may request an indication ofone or more media items from different queues. For example, remoterserver 1602 may receive, from media playback systems 1602 and 1604, arequest for an indication one or more media items from cloud queue 1612and a request for an indication one or more media items from cloud queue1614, respectively. Other examples are possible as well.

b. Identify One or More Playback Policies that are Associated with theQueue

At block 1504, the method involves identifying one or more playbackpolicies that are associated with the queue. For instance, afterreceiving a request for an indication of one or more media items from aqueue, the computing system may determine one or more media items fromthe remote queue, perhaps based on a media items indicated with therequest. The computing system may then identify one or more playbackpolicies that restrict at least one aspect of playback of at least oneof the one or more media items. The computing system may maintain orhave access to data indicating the playback policies associated witheach queue.

By restricting playback of one or more media items of a queue, aplayback policy may restrict usage of a feature that is available forother media items or queues. For example, a playback policy may restrictone or more of: skipping playback of a media item (i.e., skipping over amedia item in the queue), replaying a previously played media item,seeking forward during playback, seeking backward during playback, orreplaying a currently playing media item.

As noted above, a control device of a media playback system may providea controller interface that includes various controls. Some controls(e.g., transport controls) may provide options that control playback. Aplayback policy may restrict these options. For instance, a playbackpolicy may restrict one or more of: a shuffle option, a repeat option, askip forward option, a skip backwards option, a seek forward option, ora seek backward option. When such options are restricted, a controldevice may disable and/or remove controls linked to the options from thecontroller interface.

Some example playback policies may restrict modification of apre-determined playback order in which the media items are sequenced. Asnoted above, a queue of media items may be ordered or sequenced, suchthat the playback order of the media items of the queue ispre-determined. For instance, referring back to FIG. 7, each media itemsof queue 700 may correspond to a position within that queue, andplayback of queue 700 may proceed in order from one media item to themedia item at the next position within the queue.

Within examples, respective playback policies may apply to each mediaplayback system that accesses a particular queue. For instance,referring back to FIG. 16, after receiving, from media playback systems1604 and 1606, a request for an indication of one or more media itemsfrom cloud queue 1604, remote server 1602 may identify one or more firstplayback policies corresponding to media playback system 1604 and one ormore second playback policies corresponding to media playback system1604. In such examples, the playback policies may be applied onsystem-by-system basis, such that each set of policies are identifiedfor a media playback system based on the identity of the media playbacksystem.

In some embodiments, playback policies may be identified on the basis ofa user account. As noted above, each media playback system may beregistered with or otherwise associated with one or more user accounts,perhaps with one particular account being active at a given time.Referring to FIG. 16, media playback systems 1604 and 1606 may beassociated with a first user account and a second user account,respectively. In such an example, remote server 1602 may identify one ormore first policies corresponding to the first user account that isassociated with media playback system 1604 and identify one or moresecond policies corresponding to the second user account that isassociated with media playback system 1606. Accordingly, the playbackpolicies applied to each media playback system may be based on the useraccount associated with each system. For instance, the first useraccount may be a “premium” (e.g., paying) subscriber and so the firstplayback policies might restrict playback very little or not at all. Thesecond user account may be a “standard” (e.g., non-paying) subscriberand so the second playback policies may further restrict playbackrelative to the first playback policies. Other examples are possible aswell.

Playback policies may be identified on a queue-by-queue basis. Forexample, different rights-holders may provide cloud queues for playbackby media playback systems. Different rights-holders may desire torestrict playback of these queues in different ways. Further, arights-holder may desire to restrict playback of queues containingdifferent content in different ways. As noted above, remoter server 1602may receive, from media playback systems 1602 and 1604, a request for anindication one or more media items from cloud queue 1612 and a requestfor an indication one or more media items from cloud queue 1614,respectively. In such an example, remoter server 1602 may identify oneor more first policies corresponding to cloud queue 1612 and identifyone or more second policies corresponding to cloud queue 1614.

Additional example playback policies are described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/330,825, titled “Policies for Media Playback,”which is hereby incorporated in its entirety.

c. Send Indication of the Identified One or More Playback Policies

At block 1506, the method involves sending an indication of theidentified one or more playback policies. For instance, a computingsystem may send, to each media playback system that requested anindication of one or more media items from a queue, an indication of oneor more playback policies that were identified. Referring back to FIG.16, remote server 1602 may send, to media playback systems 1604 and1606, an indication of the one or more first policies and the one ormore second policies, respectively.

In some embodiments, the media playback system may enforce playbackpolicies. For instance, a media playback system may include a playbackdevice that maintains a local queue which is synchronized to a cloudqueue. The computing system may send to this playback device anindication of one or more media items from the cloud queue, and anindication of the identified one or more playback policies associatedwith the cloud queue. The playback device may apply the one or moreplayback policies by restricting at least one aspect of playback of thelocal queue (per the identified one or more playback policies).

Alternatively, the computing system may enforce the playback policies.After identifying a playback policy, the computing system may determinethat the identified one or more policies restrict playback of at leastone of the one or more media items and restrict playback of at least oneof the one or more media items according to the identified one or morepolicies. For example, to skip forward to a given media item of a cloudqueue, a media playback system may send a request for an indication of asequence of one or more media items from the queue that includes thegiven media item. The computing system may determine whether skippingforward is restricted by the playback policy, and if so, send, to themedia playback system, an indication that playback at least one of theone or more media items is restricted (perhaps in lieu of the requestedindication of an indication of a sequence of one or more media itemsthat includes the given media item).

IV. Example Techniques to Display Graphical Indication of PlaybackPolicies

FIG. 17 shows an example method 1700 to display of a graphicalindication of a playback policy.

a. Receive Input Data Indicating a Request to Playback a Queue

At block 1702 of method 1700, a control device of a media playbacksystem may receive input data indicating a request to playback a queueof media items. For instance, the control device may display acontroller interface, such as controller interface 400, that includescontrols to initiate playback (e.g., a “Play” or a “Play/Pause”control). The “Play” or a “Play/Pause” control may be contextual. Forexample, the controller interface may include an indication of one ormore cloud queues that the media playback system is currently accessingor has accessed. For instance, the controller interface may display acloud queue that the media playback system is currently accessing (i.e.,an “active” queue) in a playback queue region, such as a playback queueregion 440 of FIG. 4. Input data generated by a “Play” control mayindicate a request to playback the active queue.

In other cases, a playback device may have an interface that includesvarious selectable controls to control playback of a queue (e.g., acloud queue). Within examples, such controls may control playback on theplayback device, or perhaps on the playback device and one or moreadditional playback devices that are grouped (e.g., into a zone ofplayback devices configured to play back media items in synchrony).Selection of such controls may generate input data indicative of theselected control. The playback device may send an indication of thisdata to the control device. The control device may control playbackaccording to the selected control.

b. Send a Request for an Indication of One or More Media Items from theQueue

At block 1704, the method involves sending a request for an indicationof one or more media items from the queue. For instance, a controldevice may send such a request to a remote server (e.g., remote server1602 of FIG. 16). Alternatively, a control device may send the requestto a playback device that maintains a local queue.

c. Receive an Indication of One or More Playback Policies that areAssociated with the Queue.

At block 1706, the method involves receiving an indication of one ormore playback policies that are associated with the queue. Withinexamples, a control device may receive such an indication from a remoteserver or a playback device. The control device may also receive anindication of at least one media item from the queue (e.g., a sequence(or “window”) of media items from a cloud queue or a local queue.

d. Display Graphical Indication of at Least One Media Item and GraphicalIndication that at Least One Playback Policy is Associated with the atLeast One Media Item

At block 1708, the method involves causing a graphical interface todisplay a graphical indication of at least one media item and agraphical indication that at least one playback policy is associatedwith the at least one media item.

FIG. 18A shows a controller interface 1800. As shown, controllerinterface 1800 includes a playback control region 1810, a playback zoneregion 1820, a playback status region 1830, a playback queue region1840, and an audio content sources region 1850, which may correspond,respectively, to the playback control region 410, the playback zoneregion 420, the playback status region 430, the playback queue region440, and the audio content sources region 450 of controller interface400 shown in FIG. 4. The playback queue region 1840 includes anindication of media items of a queue (e.g., a cloud queue or a localqueue), which might have been indicated in a message from a remoteserver or a playback device.

Controller interface 1800A of FIG. 18A also includes several examplegraphics that indicate that at least one playback policy is associatedwith at least one media item of the queue. As shown, playback queueregion 1840 includes text 1802 that indicates that a playback policy isassociated with the media items shown in playback queue region 1840. Thetext 1802 indicates, by way of example, that replay of previously playedmedia items is disabled. Such text might indicate the restrictionsplaced on playback by the associated playback policy. In some cases, thecontrol device may cause the graphical interface to display a graphicalindication that one or more graphical controls that enable respectiveplayback options are restricted. For instance, the control device maydisable and/or change the appearance of the control to skip backward ofplayback control region 1810, so as to indicate that the playback policyrestricts replay of previously played media items. As shown in FIG. 18A,the colors of the control to skip backward (so as change playback topreviously played media items) are inverted as compared with the enabledcontrol to skip forward.

Controller interface 1800B of FIG. 18B shows another example graphicthat indicates that at least one playback policy is associated with atleast one media item of the queue. As shown, playback queue region 1840includes text 1804 that indicates that a playback policy is associatedwith a media item (“Track 2”) shown in playback queue region 1840. Thetext 1802 indicates, by way of example, that scrubbing within the mediaitem is disabled.

Within examples, a control device may detect when the current media item(e.g., the track indicated by a playhead pointer) changes (e.g., from afirst media item to a second media item), and cause the graphicalinterface to display an indication of one or more playback policies thatare associated with the current media item. For instance, referring toFIG. 18B, playback of the queue may progress from “Track 2” to “Track3.” The control device may detect that the current track has changed,and cause the graphical interface to display the policies (if any)associated with Track 3. Further, control device may cause the policiesassociated with Track 2 to be removed from the interface (perhaps to bereplaced with the policies associated with Track 3). Within examples,the respective policies associated with successive media items may bedisplayed for an overlapping period of time, so as to provide a previewof the policies associated with the next media item.

Some playback polices may restrict display of a queue to certain mediaitems within the queue. For instance, a playback policy may restrictdisplay of the queue to the currently playing media item. Anotherplayback policy may restrict display of the queue to the currentlyplaying media item and the one or more media item to be played back,such that a user might be unable to view an indication of all of themedia items of the queue, but might be able to view of a previous of thenext track(s). A further example playback policy may restrict display tothe media item that was previously played (perhaps in addition to thecurrently playing media item and/or one more media items scheduled to beplayed next). Within examples, the control device may enforce suchpolicies. For example, the control device may determine that a playbackpolicy restricts display of certain media items and not display thosemedia items according to the policy.

V. Conclusion

The description above discloses, inter alia, various example systems,methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture including, among othercomponents, firmware and/or software executed on hardware. It isunderstood that such examples are merely illustrative and should not beconsidered as limiting. For example, it is contemplated that any or allof the firmware, hardware, and/or software aspects or components can beembodied exclusively in hardware, exclusively in software, exclusivelyin firmware, or in any combination of hardware, software, and/orfirmware. Accordingly, the examples provided are not the only way(s) toimplement such systems, methods, apparatus, and/or articles ofmanufacture.

As indicated above, some example techniques may involve a “playhead.” Inone aspect, a method is provided. The method may involve receiving, froma media playback system, a request for an indication of a playheadpointer for a particular queue of media items. The method may alsoinvolve identifying a position of a playhead pointer within theparticular queue of media items. Each position in the queue maycorrespond to a media item. The method may further involve sending, tothe media playback system, an indication of the playhead pointer. Theindication of the playhead pointer may indicate the assigned position ofthe playhead pointer.

In another aspect, a computing system is provided. The computing systemincludes a network interface, at least one processor, a data storage,and program logic stored in the data storage and executable by the atleast one processor to perform functions. The functions may includereceiving, from a media playback system, a request for an indication ofa playhead pointer for a particular queue of media items. The functionsmay also include identifying a position of a playhead pointer within theparticular queue of media items. Each position in the queue maycorrespond to a media item. The functions may further include sending,to the media playback system, an indication of the playhead pointer. Theindication of the playhead pointer may indicate the assigned position ofthe playhead pointer.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to perform functions. The functions may include receiving, from amedia playback system, a request for an indication of a playhead pointerfor a particular queue of media items. The functions may also includeidentifying a position of a playhead pointer within the particular queueof media items. Each position in the queue may correspond to a mediaitem. The functions may further include sending, to the media playbacksystem, an indication of the playhead pointer. The indication of theplayhead pointer may indicate the assigned position of the playheadpointer.

In yet another aspect, another method is provided. The method mayinvolve receiving, by a control device of a media playback system, inputdata that associates a zone of one or more playback devices with aparticular queue of media items. The method may also involve sending, bythe control device to a computing system, a request for an indication ofa playhead pointer for the particular queue of media items. The methodmay further involve receiving, by the control device, the requestedindication of the playhead pointer. The indication of the playheadpointer may indicate an assigned position of the playhead pointer in theparticular queue of media items and assigned position may correspond toa media item at that position in the particular queue.

In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes a networkinterface, at least one processor, a data storage, and program logicstored in the data storage and executable by the at least one processorto perform functions. The functions may include receiving, by a controldevice of a media playback system, input data that associates a zone ofone or more playback devices with a particular queue of media items. Thefunctions may also include sending, by the control device to a computingsystem, a request for an indication of a playhead pointer for theparticular queue of media items. The functions may further includereceiving, by the control device, the requested indication of theplayhead pointer. The indication of the playhead pointer may indicate anassigned position of the playhead pointer in the particular queue ofmedia items and assigned position may correspond to a media item at thatposition in the particular queue.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to perform functions. The functions may include receiving, by acontrol device of a media playback system, input data that associates azone of one or more playback devices with a particular queue of mediaitems. The functions may also include sending, by the control device toa computing system, a request for an indication of a playhead pointerfor the particular queue of media items. The functions may furtherinclude receiving, by the control device, the requested indication ofthe playhead pointer. The indication of the playhead pointer mayindicate an assigned position of the playhead pointer in the particularqueue of media items and assigned position may correspond to a mediaitem at that position in the particular queue.

Also as indicated above, example techniques may involve synchronizationof the cloud queue. In one aspect, a method is provided. The method mayinvolve sending, to a remote server, (i) a request for an indication ofat least one media item from a remote queue of media items, and (ii) anindication of a particular media item that is being played by theplayback device. The method may also involve receiving an indication ofone or more media items from the remote queue of media items. The one ormore media items may include the particular media item is being playedby the playback device. The method may further involve incorporating anindication of the one or more media items into a local queue of mediaitems.

In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes a networkinterface, at least one processor, a data storage, and program logicstored in the data storage and executable by the at least one processorto perform functions. The functions may include sending, to a remoteserver, (i) a request for an indication of at least one media item froma remote queue of media items, and (ii) an indication of a particularmedia item that is being played by the playback device. The functionsmay also include receiving an indication of one or more media items fromthe remote queue of media items. The one or more media items may includethe particular media item is being played by the playback device. Thefunctions may further include incorporating an indication of the one ormore media items into a local queue of media items.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to perform functions. The functions may include sending, to aremote server, (i) a request for an indication of at least one mediaitem from a remote queue of media items, and (ii) an indication of aparticular media item that is being played by the playback device. Thefunctions may also include receiving an indication of one or more mediaitems from the remote queue of media items. The one or more media itemsmay include the particular media item that is being played by theplayback device. The functions may further include incorporating anindication of the one or more media items into a local queue of mediaitems.

In yet another aspect, another method is provided. The method mayinvolve receiving, from a media playback system, (i) a request for anindication of at least one media item from a remote queue of mediaitems, and (ii) an indication of a particular media item that is beingplayed by a playback device of the media playback system. The method mayalso involve determining one or more media items from the remote queue.The determined one or more items may include the particular media item.The method may further involve sending an indication of the determinedone or more media items from the remote queue to the media playbacksystem.

In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes a networkinterface, at least one processor, a data storage, and program logicstored in the data storage and executable by the at least one processorto perform functions. The functions may include receiving, from a mediaplayback system, (i) a request for an indication of at least one mediaitem from a remote queue of media items, and (ii) an indication of aparticular media item that is being played by a playback device of themedia playback system. The functions may also include determining one ormore media items from the remote queue. The determined one or more itemsmay include the particular media item. The functions may further includesending an indication of the determined one or more media items from theremote queue to the media playback system.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to perform functions. The functions may include receiving, from amedia playback system, (i) a request for an indication of at least onemedia item from a remote queue of media items, and (ii) an indication ofa particular media item that is being played by a playback device of themedia playback system. The functions may also include determining one ormore media items from the remote queue. The determined one or more itemsmay include the particular media item. The functions may further includesending an indication of the determined one or more media items from theremote queue to the media playback system.

As further indicated above, example techniques may involve playbackpolicies of a queue. In one aspect, a method is provided. The method mayinvolve receiving, from a media playback system, at least one requestfor an indication of one or more media items from a queue of mediaitems. The method may also involve identifying one or more playbackpolicies that are associated with the queue of media items. Each of theone or more playback policies may restrict at least one aspect ofplayback of at least one of the one or more media items. The method mayfurther involve sending, to the media playback system, an indication ofthe identified one or more playback policies.

In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes a networkinterface, at least one processor, a data storage, and program logicstored in the data storage and executable by the at least one processorto perform functions. The functions may include receiving, from a mediaplayback system, at least one request for an indication of one or moremedia items from a queue of media items. The functions may also includeidentifying one or more playback policies that are associated with thequeue of media items. Each of the one or more playback policies mayrestrict at least one aspect of playback of at least one of the one ormore media items. The functions may further include sending, to themedia playback system, an indication of the identified one or moreplayback policies.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to perform functions. The functions may include receiving, from amedia playback system, at least one request for an indication of one ormore media items from a queue of media items. The functions may alsoinclude identifying one or more playback policies that are associatedwith the queue of media items. Each of the one or more playback policiesmay restrict at least one aspect of playback of at least one of the oneor more media items. The functions may further include sending, to themedia playback system, an indication of the identified one or moreplayback policies.

In yet another aspect, another method is provided. The method mayinvolve receiving input data indicating a request to playback a queue ofmedia items. The method may also involve sending a request for anindication of one or more media items from the queue of media items. Themethod may further involve receiving (i) an indication of at least onemedia item from the queue; and (ii) an indication of one or moreplayback policies that are associated with the queue of media items.Each of the one or more playback policies may restrict at least oneaspect of playback of the at least one media item from the queue. Themethod may additionally involve causing a graphical interface to display(i) a graphical indication of the at least one media item, and (ii) agraphical indication that at least one playback policy is associatedwith the at least one media item.

In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes a networkinterface, at least one processor, a data storage, and program logicstored in the data storage and executable by the at least one processorto perform functions. The functions may include receiving input dataindicating a request to playback a queue of media items. The functionsmay also include sending a request for an indication of one or moremedia items from the queue of media items. The functions may furtherinclude receiving (i) an indication of at least one media item from thequeue; and (ii) an indication of one or more playback policies that areassociated with the queue of media items. Each of the one or moreplayback policies may restrict at least one aspect of playback of the atleast one media item from the queue. The functions may additionallyinclude causing a graphical interface to display (i) a graphicalindication of the at least one media item, and (ii) a graphicalindication that at least one playback policy is associated with the atleast one media item.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to perform functions. The functions may include receiving inputdata indicating a request to playback a queue of media items. Thefunctions may also include sending a request for an indication of one ormore media items from the queue of media items. The functions mayfurther include receiving (i) an indication of at least one media itemfrom the queue; and (ii) an indication of one or more playback policiesthat are associated with the queue of media items. Each of the one ormore playback policies may restrict at least one aspect of playback ofthe at least one media item from the queue. The functions mayadditionally include causing a graphical interface to display (i) agraphical indication of the at least one media item, and (ii) agraphical indication that at least one playback policy is associatedwith the at least one media item.

The specification is presented largely in terms of illustrativeenvironments, systems, procedures, steps, logic blocks, processing, andother symbolic representations that directly or indirectly resemble theoperations of data processing devices coupled to networks. These processdescriptions and representations are typically used by those skilled inthe art to most effectively convey the substance of their work to othersskilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth to provide athorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it isunderstood to those skilled in the art that certain embodiments of thepresent disclosure can be practiced without certain, specific details.In other instances, well known methods, procedures, components, andcircuitry have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarilyobscuring aspects of the embodiments. Accordingly, the scope of thepresent disclosure is defined by the appended claims rather than theforgoing description of embodiments.

When any of the appended claims are read to cover a purely softwareand/or firmware implementation, at least one of the elements in at leastone example is hereby expressly defined to include a tangible,non-transitory medium such as a memory, DVD, CD, Blu-ray, and so on,storing the software and/or firmware.

We claim:
 1. A playback device comprising: a network interface; at leastone processor; a data storage; and a program logic stored in the datastorage and executable by the at least one processor to: send, to aremote server via the network interface, (i) a request for an indicationof at least one media item from a remote queue of media items, and (ii)an indication of a particular media item that is being played by theplayback device; receive, via the network interface, an indication ofone or more media items from the remote queue of media items, whereinthe one or more media items include the particular media item is beingplayed by the playback device; and incorporate an indication of the oneor more media items into a local queue of media items.
 2. The playbackdevice of claim 1, wherein receiving the indication of one or more mediaitems from the queue of media items comprises receiving a sequence ofone or more media items from the queue, wherein the sequence includesthe particular media item that is being played by the playback device 3.The playback device of claim 2, wherein incorporating an indication ofthe one or more media items into the local queue comprises adding anindication of the one or more media items from the queue into the localqueue according to the sequence.
 4. The playback device of claim 2,wherein sending the request for an indication of at least one media itemfrom a remote queue of media items further comprises sending, to theremote server, an indication of a number of media items to include inthe sequence.
 5. The playback device of claim 1, wherein sending therequest for an indication of at least one media item from the remotequeue of media items further comprises sending, to the remote server, anidentifier indicating the remote queue from among one or more queues. 6.The playback device of claim 1, wherein the program logic is furtherexecutable to: after receiving the indication of one or more media itemsfrom the remote queue of media items, send, to one or more additionalplayback devices, an indication of the one or more media items from theremote queue of media items.
 7. The playback device of claim 1, whereinthe program logic is further executable to: receive, from a controldevice, a request for an indication of the one or more media items fromthe remote queue of media items for display; and send, to a controldevice, an indication of at least one of the one or more media itemsfrom the remote queue of media items.
 8. The playback device of claim 1,wherein the program logic is further executable to: receive a requestfor the playback device to send another request for an indication of atleast one media item from the remote queue of media items; detect thatanother media item of the local queue is being played by the playbackdevice; and send, to the remote server via the network interface, (i)another request for an indication of at least one media item from theremote queue of media items, and (ii) an indication of the detectedmedia item of the local queue, wherein the detected media item is themedia item is being played by the playback device.
 9. The playbackdevice of claim 1, wherein the program logic is further executable to:detect that playback of the particular media item has finished; andsend, to the remote server, a message indicating that playback of theparticular media item has finished.
 10. The playback device of claim 1,wherein the remote queue is an active queue that is currently playingback at the playback device, and wherein the program logic is furtherexecutable to: receive a message modifying the active queue of theplayback device from the remote queue to another queue; and send, to theremote server, a message indicating that the remote queue is not theactive queue at the playback device.
 11. The playback device of claim 1,wherein the local queue is a local mirror of the remote queue.
 12. Amethod comprising: sending, by a playback device to a remote server viathe network interface, (i) a request for an indication of at least onemedia item from a remote queue of media items, and (ii) an indication ofa particular media item that is being played by the playback device;receiving, by the playback device via the network interface, anindication of one or more media items from the remote queue of mediaitems, wherein the one or more media items include the particular mediaitem is being played by the playback device; and incorporating, by theplayback device, an indication of the one or more media items into thelocal queue of media items.
 13. A method comprising: receiving, by acomputing system from a media playback system, (i) a request for anindication of at least one media item from a remote queue of mediaitems, and (ii) an indication of a particular media item that is beingplayed by a playback device of the media playback system; determiningone or more media items from the remote queue, wherein the one or moreitems includes the particular media item; and sending, by the computingsystem, an indication of the determined one or more media items from theremote queue to the media playback system.
 14. The method of claim 13,wherein determining the one or more media items from the remote queuecomprises determining a sequence of one or more media items from theremote queue, wherein the sequence includes the particular media item.15. The method of claim 13, further comprising: detecting a modificationto the remote queue that affects that the determined one or more mediaitems from the queue; and in response to detecting the modification tothe remote queue that affects that the determined one or more mediaitems, sending, to the media playback system, a message indicating thatthe determined one or more media items from the remote queue have beenaffected.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein sending the messageindicating that the determined one or more items from the remote queuehave been affected comprises: sending, to the media playback system, arequest for the media playback system to send another request for anindication of at least one media item from the remote queue of mediaitems.
 17. The method of claim 15, wherein sending the messageindicating that the determined one or more items from the remote queuehave been affected comprises: determining one or more media items fromthe modified remote queue, wherein the one or more items includes theparticular media item; and sending, by the computing system, thedetermined one or more media items from the modified remote queue to themedia playback system.
 18. The method of claim 13, further comprising:after receiving the indication of the particular media item that isbeing played by the playback device, storing data indicating the currenttrack of the remote queue, wherein the current track of the queue is theparticular media item that is being played by the playback device. 19.The method of claim 18, further comprising: receiving, from the mediaplayback system, a message indicating that playback of the particularmedia item has finished; and based on receiving the message indicatingthat playback of the particular media item has finished, determining amedia item that is queued after the particular media item in the queueand updating the stored data indicating the current track of the remotequeue to indicate the determined media item that is queued after theparticular media item.
 20. The method of claim 13, further comprising:receiving a message indicating that the remote queue is not the activequeue at the playback device; and based on receiving the messageindicating that the queue is not the active queue at the playbackdevice, removing the media playback system from a list of subscribers tothe remote queue, wherein each subscriber is configured to play backmedia items of the remote queue.